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As 2024 comes to a close, the U.S. Climate Alliance is looking back on another year of unprecedented state-led progress, collaboration, and action in the fight to curb climate pollution – and build a safer, healthier, better future for America.
Once again, the Alliance and its 24 governors, representing approximately 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of the U.S. population, have led the charge and put climate action at the very top of the agenda.
This year, the Alliance welcomed new leadership; continued to deliver bold and impactful climate solutions in our states and territories; upped our ambition with strong new commitments for the next decade; partnered with the federal government to accelerate action and secure historic investments; and prepared for what’s to come.
Below, we highlight a few of these key moments, reflect on our progress, and look ahead to 2025.
In May, the Alliance announced that for the very first time our coalition would be led by two women co-chairs — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. We also named our first Midwest governor to the coalition’s executive committee – Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers – who joined our co-chairs, and Washington Governor Jay Inslee, and California Governor Gavin Newsom in overseeing the strategic direction of the Alliance.
As our states and territories ramped up efforts to advance and accelerate high-impact climate action, the Alliance Secretariat expanded our team to support this work. In fact, over the course of 2024, our Secretariat staff grew by more than 40 percent and continued to provide a broad range of technical, analytical, policy, and capacity assistance to coalition members.
This support included organizing “Learning Labs” to help accelerate progress on methane monitoring and mitigation technologies in June and climate smart agriculture and forestry in December. These convenings each brought together nearly 100 top officials to share knowledge, solutions, and challenges to catalyze further action. Additionally, our governors’ offices convened for a series of interactive, hands-on sessions and discussions during the Alliance’s multi-day Semiannual Meetings in Washington, DC and Portland, ME, and our team met in Raleigh, NC with Governor Roy Cooper, who has helped lead America’s clean energy boom.
Building on the Alliance’s commitment in 2023 to decarbonize America’s buildings — including collectively quadrupling heat pump installations by 2030 — we doubled down this year, and launched the new Governors’ Climate-Ready Workforce Initiative at Climate Week NYC. Under this initiative, members of the Alliance committed to collectively train 1 million new registered apprentices by 2035 across the Alliance’s states and territories, while growing career pathways in climate and clean energy fields and strengthening workforce diversity.
As the year neared its end, the Alliance continued its sprint to the finish line and announced a new coalition-wide pledge to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions at least 61-66 percent below 2005 levels by 2035, in alignment with the Biden-Harris administration’s new climate target for the United States. This commitment builds on the Alliance’s 2025 and 2030 emissions-reduction goals and will help sustain and drive efforts to achieve net-zero emissions no later than 2050.
This year, the Alliance continued our work to help inform federal policies, programs, and actions, including through a series of targeted letters and convenings. These efforts culminated with EPA’s approval of California’s clean cars waiver and its final rules to cut emissions from light- and medium-duty vehicles and power plants. The Alliance has also encouraged EPA’s timely authorization of California’s In-Use Locomotive Regulation (IULR) and waiver approval for the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation, respectively, and decisions are pending.
The Alliance’s also worked hand-in-hand with Biden administration to identify and accelerate solutions to key climate challenges. This included joining forces to launch the Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative, through which 22 states have committed to partnering with the federal government to speed improvements to the power system. Top representatives from the Alliance’s states and territories also convened with federal leaders at the White House to focus on growing career pathways in climate and clean energy fields. These efforts build on last year’s joint initiatives with the White House to advance building decarbonization and expand the procurement and use of low-carbon construction materials.
The Inflation Reduction Act has been a rocket booster for state-led climate action, and this year, Alliance members secured billions of dollars in historic new funding to go even further. This included nearly $3 billion collectively under the Solar for All program for 23 Alliance members to help low-income households across America access residential solar power — and save money and energy, boost resilience, improve health, and create quality jobs. Additionally, 14 Alliance states collectively received more than $2.5 billion as part of the second phase of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program to help implement some of the most ambitious measures to slash pollution.
The final months of 2024 have been marked by a flurry of action from the Alliance. Following the presidential election in November, the Alliance sprang into action and came together with America’s other top subnational climate action coalitions – America Is All In and Climate Mayors – to make it clear to the country and the world that “we will not turn back.” Our co-chairs followed with statements of their own, assuring Americans that climate-leading governors will tap every ounce of their authority to protect America’s progress and press forward in the years ahead. Led by founding member Washington Governor Jay Inslee, we also took this message to the global stage at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan and reaffirmed America’s commitment to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
As we prepare for new challenges in 2025, we see incredible opportunities ahead to build on our progress and realize a better future. Our annual report this year found that between 2005 and 2022, the Alliance reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 19 percent, while increasing collective GDP by 30 percent. We also remain on track to meet our collective near-term climate goal by reducing collective GHG emissions 26% below 2005 levels by 2025. Compared to the rest of the country, Alliance members employed more workers in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors; achieved lower levels of dangerous air pollutants; generated a greater share of electricity from carbon-free sources; and executed more pre-disaster planning.
The benefits of climate action are as clear as they’ve ever been, and we look forward to continuing to deliver in 2025 and beyond.
Launched on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by President Trump’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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