Home / Route Fifty: Senate Approves Democrats’ Sweeping Climate and Health Bill
“Casey Katims, executive director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan group of 24 governors who have pledged to take action to confront climate change, described the bill as ‘a watershed moment,’ adding that opportunities to curb climate-warming emissions will ‘look a little different in every state.’
Katims said it is exciting that the bill includes funding to help states create rebate programs for residents to make home upgrades that could improve energy efficiency and decrease reliance on fossil fuels. He also highlighted grants that will go towards helping disadvantaged communities deal with climate change.”
Launched on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by President Trump’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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