Menu
“The ruling will almost assuredly make U.S. climate goals more difficult to reach while shifting climate attention to the states, local governments and investors trying to capitalize on the falling costs of clean energy. While the federal government’s credibility could take a hit in international climate talks, momentum toward low-carbon power might no longer hinge on federal regulation, they argued.
‘Our governors are fired up,’ said Casey Katims, the executive director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of state leaders who want to reduce emissions.
Katims noted that in the time it took for the EPA regulation to reach the country’s highest court, dozens of states have passed landmark clean energy bills.”
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 greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025, at least 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, 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. While reducing emissions by 18% between 2005 and 2021, Alliance members grew their collective GDP by nearly 30%. 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.
###
