Governors Andrew Cuomo (NY), Jay Inslee (WA) and Gavin Newsom (CA), who serve as co-chairs of the bipartisan United States Climate Alliance, today issued the following statement in response to the Administration’s attempt to revoke the waiver that allows states to set more stringent emissions standards. On July 9th, members of the U.S. Climate Alliance issued a statement announcing an effort to work together to support a strong national standard through the “Nation’s Clean Car Promise”.
As co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance — a bipartisan coalition of 25 governors committed to addressing climate change — we strongly oppose today’s announcement by the Administration attempting to revoke the rights we have held for 40 years under the Clean Air Act to protect our residents from vehicle pollution. This will impact not only California, but also the freedom of all states to choose how they protect their own communities from harmful pollution.
This action undermines one of the country’s best climate and clean air programs and constitutes an attack on consumers, our environment, and our health. It will increase air pollution, cost our residents more at the pump, and limit the ability of Alliance states to meet their own emission reduction targets and take crucial climate action.
We will continue to defend our rights, and call on non-Alliance states, car makers, the health community, and others to work with us to uphold the economic, environmental and public health benefits of cleaner cars.
Launched in 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the U.S. federal government’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60 percent of the U.S. economy and 55 percent of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28 percent by 2025, 50-52 percent by 2030, and 61-66 percent 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 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 latest data shows that as of 2023, the Alliance has reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent below 2005 levels, while increasing collective GDP by 34 percent, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal of reducing collective greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
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