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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Climate Alliance — a bipartisan coalition of governors representing approximately 60 percent of the U.S. economy and 55 percent of the U.S. population — today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to grant two requests for waivers of preemption regarding four California Air Resource Board (CARB) regulations related to California’s heavy-duty vehicle and engine emission standards:
“For years, Alliance states and territories have been accelerating climate action across America and this decision reaffirms their authority to continue to go further, faster to curb harmful heavy-duty truck pollution,” said Alliance Executive Director Casey Katims. “Getting more clean, zero-emission trucks on our roads will save lives, create new jobs, and ensure communities breathe cleaner air.”
Earlier this year, the Alliance called on the Biden administration to move swiftly on more than 20 specific federal climate actions, including approval of California’s waiver requests, to help speed America’s net-zero transition. To learn more about today’s action from EPA, see here.
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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