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As the Trump administration announced it will withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, the co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance – New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham – delivered a letter to UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell making it clear to the global community that climate action will continue in the U.S.
In the letter, the governors noted that the Alliance is well prepared for this moment, having launched this coalition back in 2017, when the President previously yanked the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. They also cited governors’ broad authority under the U.S. Constitution to continue to advance innovative and impactful climate solutions and pointed to the Alliance’s long record of action and results. Finally, the governors committed to tracking and reporting on their progress to the international community, including at the UN Climate Change Conference in Brazil (COP30) later this year.
Read the Alliance’s full letter here.
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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