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WASHINGTON, D.C. – One week after President Joe Biden moved to rejoin the Paris Agreement and the bipartisan United States Climate Alliance committed to forging a new kind of state-federal partnership to confront the climate crisis, Executive Director Julie Cerqueira today issued the following statement welcoming additional executive climate action from the Biden administration:
“In just a week, the new administration has forcefully backed many of its promises with swift action, real commitments, new staff, and sound science. This is a remarkable shift, but now comes the hard part. Averting climate catastrophe and rebuilding our country will take all of government and all of America, including the Alliance’s governors and states. Let’s get to work — together.”
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 greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025, at least 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, 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. While reducing emissions by 18% between 2005 and 2021, Alliance members grew their collective GDP by nearly 30%. 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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