Home / Maui News: Governor Green Sets Course for Hawai’i Climate Leadership
“‘To rescue what’s dear to us, to preserve our way of life — we need bold action,’ Green said as he kicked-off Climate Week. ‘And Hawaiʻi is poised to lead the globe on clean energy and climate issues — boldly, into the future.’
This vision includes climate policy initiatives including a recommitment to the US Climate Alliance, and the establishment of a Climate Advisory Panel.
‘We welcome Hawaiʻi’s continued membership in our climate action coalition and are proud to partner with Governor Green, a longtime champion of renewable energy and clean transportation,’ said US Climate Alliance Executive Director, Casey Katims in a press release issued by the Governor’s office. ‘Under the Governor’s leadership, we know Hawaiʻi will continue to boldly confront the climate crisis and set an example across the country, throughout the Pacific, and globally.’
The US Climate Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of governors committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Hawaiʻi is the only Pacific Island member of the coalition.”
Launched on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the previous administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28% by 2025, 50-52% by 2030, and 61-66% by 2035, all below 2005 levels, and collectively achieve overall net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as practicable, and no later than 2050.
The Alliance’s states and territories continue to demonstrate that climate action goes hand-in-hand with economic growth, job creation, and better public health. The Alliance reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 19% between 2005 and 2022, while increasing collective GDP by 30%, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal by reducing collective GHG emissions 26% below 2005 levels by 2025. The coalition’s states and territories are employing more workers in the clean energy sector, achieving lower levels of dangerous air pollutants, and preparing more effectively for climate impacts and executing more pre-disaster planning than the rest of the country.
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