Tags
- In The News
- April 2022
Progressive Magazine: Taking it to the States
April 11, 2022
“Governors are at the forefront of the battle to address climate change.”
“‘Alliance members have proven that tackling the climate crisis not only benefits them but the nation and the world,’ says Taryn Finnessey, the U.S. Climate Alliance’s acting executive director and policy director.
Member states reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent compared to 12 percent for the rest of the country from 2005 to 2019, she said in a phone interview. They also created more than 130,000 new jobs in the clean energy industry, surpassing the rest of the nation from 2016 to 2019.
During the Trump Administration, when next to nothing was happening in regard to climate change at the federal level, members shared strategies across state lines. They fought the administration’s attempts to weaken federal regulations aimed at curtailing greenhouse gas emissions and direct air pollutants, such as methane, that cause serious respiratory and other health conditions.
The governors focused on developing new state programs to get cleaner and more affordable vehicles on the road, generate more electricity from renewable energy sources, and increase the efficiency of buildings and appliances.”
About the Alliance
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.
###
