WASHINGTON, D.C. — The co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance — California Governor Gavin Newsom and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers — issued the following statement today in response to Congressional passage of a budget reconciliation bill that increases energy costs, worsens pollution, and jeopardizes industries, jobs, and investments across America:
“This bill is a senseless, shameless attack on our future and the very industries and jobs we need to succeed. It makes our country less affordable, less energy independent, less competitive, and less secure at a time when climate impacts are spreading, energy demand is soaring, and costs are already too high. We refuse to follow Congress off this cliff. The America we know embraces new technologies, cleaner air and energy, lower costs, and better health — and that’s exactly what the Alliance’s governors will keep fighting for.”
The reconciliation bill is projected to spike household electricity prices, cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, threaten hundreds of billions of dollars in investment, increase pollution, and slash America’s energy production capacity — even as nationwide electricity demand is expected to rise 35-50 percent by 2040. According to recent analyses, repealing clean energy tax credits will raise household energy prices by more than $110 annually next year and as much as $415 annually within a decade.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. saw record growth in new manufacturing capacity and investment in new domestic energy production, supercharging the development of renewable energy sources, the most cost-effective form of electricity generation to build. This growth spurred the creation of more than 400,000 good-paying jobs and more than $422 billion in investments in new or expanded manufacturing facilities for batteries, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies — while simultaneously slashing climate pollution and bolstering energy security. Today’s action by Congress halts this progress and strips away these benefits from hard-working Americans across the country.
For months, the Alliance’s governors have warned about the bill’s impacts on America’s workers, families, and communities. It now heads to President Trump’s desk for signature.
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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