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As states and territories with substantial experience advancing policies that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we welcome the opportunity to provide input on EPA’s design and deployment of new Climate Pollution Reduction grants under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Tackling the climate crisis requires both state and federal action and the Alliance looks forward to working collaboratively with the Administration to ensure our states can harness these unprecedented resources to accelerate action and achieve our shared net-zero climate goals.
Designed appropriately, these grants can supercharge our work in the years ahead and help Alliance members update and build out existing climate plans; incorporate additional sectors and policy considerations; raise ambition; conduct more robust technical and legal analysis; increase stakeholder engagement; advance environmental justice; and importantly, address critical capacity constraints across state government to do the work of putting our goals and plans into action.
Launched on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the previous administration’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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