One Year After Trump’s Paris Walk Back, States Continue to Move Forward on Climate

This year’s Climate and Society class is out in the field (or lab or office) completing a summer internship or thesis. They’ll be documenting their experiences one blog post at a time. Read on to see what they’re up to.

Andrew Angle, C+S ’18

(Source: Jean-Baptiste Gurliat/ Mairie de Paris)

When President Trump announced his intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, action on climate change in the U.S. didn’t just come to a standstill. States have stepped up their game to combat climate change. As a policy intern at the nonprofit Center for Climate and Energy Solutions this summer, I have been fortunate to conduct research on the wide array of actions they are taking.

The states, normally less hindered by the conflicting viewpoints that bog down the federal government, often serve as laboratories for innovative policy ideas. In the climate realm, California has been the undisputed leader when it comes to enacting forward-looking policies. Back in 2006 the state passed the landmark Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), establishing a program to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions from all sources within the state. More recently, California passed Senate Bill 32 in 2016, which builds upon AB 32 by increasing the state’s ambitions to reduce greenhouse gases to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

But there’s also so much more to state climate policy than just setting emissions targets. In 2016, Oregon became the first state to pass a law phasing out the burning of coal for electricity generation by 2030. In the same act, Oregon committed to double its 2040 renewable energy target to 50 percent. Another first of its kind policy was established recently in Hawaii, with the Aloha State enacting a law to reach carbon neutrality by 2045.

It’s just not western states taking on climate change, States in the East are acting, too. New Jersey has also been actively pursuing climate policy since Governor Phil Murphy was elected in 2017. In 2018, the Garden State has rejoined Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the only multi-state carbon pricing program in the U.S. The state was an original member of RGGI before former Governor Chris Christie withdrew in 2012.

The state is also and is pursuing a plan to develop 3,500 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind.The plan, known as the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act (OWED), was first developed under the Christie administration in 2010. However, it was never completely implemented. Governor Murphy’s executive order signed in January directed the Board of Public Utilities to fill in the programs gaps and develop a strategic plan for the state. Once active, OWED would establish an offshore wind credit system to incentivize investment in offshore wind projects off the New Jersey coast.

States are not just working alone. They are also teaming up to tackle climate change. The U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan collation of governors from 13 states representing 40 percent of the U.S. population, aims to coordinate state climate action to help keep the U.S. on track to meets its Paris Agreement contribution. Likewise, We Are Still In, a bipartisan group of governors, mayors and business leaders who teamed up in the wake of Trump’s announcement, aims to ensure the world that Americans will not retreat from the Paris Agreement irrespective of the actions of the executive branch.

State climate efforts are not limited to the domestic realm either. In mid-September, California will host the Global Climate Summit, bringing together sub-national governments, business and NGOs from around the world to showcase actions already taken by these groups. The summit will also serve as a launchpad to accelerate future climate action and inspire greater commitments from countries to put the world on track to meet the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement.

The shockwaves that reverberated around the world when Donald Trump announced his intentions to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement a little more than a year ago have subsided. U.S. climate action did not stop and emissions continued to decline. Nevertheless, even with considerable state progress and low natural gas prices (gas plants have fewer carbon emissions than the coal plants there’re replacing), the U.S. is not on track to meet its Paris commitment of reducing emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. The recently unveiled Environmental Protection Agency plan to rollback federal fuel economy standards definitely does not help. Nor does the likely revocation of California’s Clean Air Act wavier to set its own emissions standards, a standard that 12 additional states have also adopted.

Undoubtedly, more work is needed if the U.S. is to do its part in combatting climate change in the face of uncertain political tides. One thing that is for certain, however, is that many states are doing their part. Now the question is, will the rest of the country and the federal government follow?