“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 on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by President Trump’s initial 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 will 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 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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