“In its first few months in office, the Trump administration has rolled out more than 100 actions aimed at halting federal climate initiatives. With new examples being announced almost every day, many people looking for climate policy wins are turning their attention to states and cities.
Although the volatility of the political environment makes it impossible to predict how state and local climate efforts will play out in the coming years, their potential is enormous.”
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“State and local governments have a great deal of influence over the nation’s largest sources of planet-warming gases. States control many aspects of transportation and electricity, while cities typically have authority over issues related to buildings, transportation, land use, energy, and waste. (Local powers vary by state, however.) States and cities can also take steps like setting emissions targets that catalyze coordination between governments, businesses, and institutions like hospitals and universities.
In fact, subnational actors such as state and local governments could reduce emissions so dramatically that the nation could still hit key climate targets even if federal action effectively stopped for the next few years.
This was the conclusion of a February 2025 policy brief from the University of Maryland’s Center for Global Sustainability, written as part of its partnership with America is All In, a coalition of groups like state and local governments, businesses, and large institutions working on 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 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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