“During his first term, when Mr. Trump attempted to roll back more than 100 environmental rules and regulations, state and local government efforts to cut greenhouse gases acted as a bulwark.
Today there are hundreds of state and local laws addressing climate change across the country. Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Illinois are among 25 states that have renewable and clean energy standards for electricity, while 20 states have set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across their economies, according to the U.S. Climate Alliance, a group of 24 governors.
Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey and Nevada are among 15 states with their own tailpipe emissions limits, and many of them have also formally adopted a plan that originated in California to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Together, they make up nearly half of the U.S. auto market. New Mexico has led the way on reducing methane from oil and gas wells and landfills, and it and 13 other states now have laws or regulations to curb that potent greenhouse gas.”
…
“Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Democrats who lead the U.S. Climate Alliance, issued a joint statement saying, ‘The federal government cannot unilaterally strip states’ independent constitutional authority.’
They added, ‘We are a nation of states — and laws — and we will not be deterred.’”
Launched in 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the U.S. federal government’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60 percent of the U.S. economy and 55 percent of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28 percent by 2025, 50-52 percent by 2030, and 61-66 percent 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 advance innovative and impactful climate solutions to grow the economy, create jobs, and protect public health, and have a long record of action and results. In fact, the latest data shows that as of 2023, the Alliance has reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent below 2005 levels, while increasing collective GDP by 34 percent, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal of reducing collective greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
###
