WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance — New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham — issued the following statement in response to the President’s executive order targeting state authority:
“The federal government cannot unilaterally strip states’ independent constitutional authority. We are a nation of states — and laws — and we will not be deterred. We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans’ fundamental right to clean air and water, create good-paying jobs, grow the clean energy economy, and make our future healthier and safer.”
The Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors — representing nearly 55% of the U.S. population and 60% of the U.S. economy — all committed to securing America’s net-zero future through state-led, high-impact climate action. Since its creation in 2017, the coalition has been a cross-cutting, consistent source of leadership to uphold U.S. climate action both domestically and abroad.
The Alliance has vowed to protect America’s progress and to sustain and advance climate action on a number of occasions in recent months, including in a letter from the Alliance’s co-chairs to UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell; ahead of the presidential inauguration; at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29); after the election in statements from its co-chairs and with America’s other top subnational climate action coalitions; and in a video featuring governors on its executive committee.
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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