“What are the US Climate Alliance’s plans for the second Trump administration? How is this going to be different from his first term?
Governors understand that the climate crisis demands action, and that the crisis doesn’t pause just because there’s a change in federal administration. So, governors across the US Climate Alliance are committed to advancing climate solutions and continuing to press forward toward our climate goals and climate targets because it is a scientific imperative, regardless of what happens at the federal level.
Our coalition got its start seven and a half years ago when President Trump yanked the US out of the Paris agreement the last time. So we were quite literally built for this moment. And the good news is that states continue to have broad authority under the US Constitution to advance solutions to the climate crisis…The commitment and resolve that the alliance has for tackling this crisis isn’t going to change. It [now] means that we don’t necessarily have a partner in the federal government in our work.
That’s not a new challenge to our governors. During the first Trump administration, US Climate Alliance governors learned really effective strategies for how to tap their authority and their experience at the state level, and how to leverage their collective market share. The alliance represents, collectively, 60% of the US economy, 55% of the US population. There’s a capability for [us] acting together to transform markets and to adopt substantially similar solutions that make a meaningful impact, that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, that increase resilience to the climate crisis, and put us on a path to a safer, cleaner future.”
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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