States unite to take action on climate

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Celebrating progress at the state and local level during the Global Climate Action Summit

Environment America

As world leaders meet in California for the Global Climate Action Summit, Environment America and its state affiliates are hosting events across the country to highlight progress on climate and clean energy action. States and cities, led by all political stripes, are uniting to safeguard our environment and health from the effects of climate change.

“Whether it’s increasingly extreme weather along our coasts or catastrophic droughts and wildfires out west, climate change is affecting our communities now, and it’s getting harder and harder to ignore,” said Andrea McGimsey, Environment America’s global warming solutions senior director. “States and cities across the country are taking climate change seriously, showing us the way forward, and inspiring us to think bigger and bolder.”

We should celebrate the breadth and scope of climate progress, which isn’t just happening in traditionally Democratic-led states such as New York and California. Over the last decade, North Carolina ranks third for solar energy growth in the country, and Texas leads the way in wind energy growth. Nine states, led by a bipartisan mix of governors from Maryland to Maine, banded together to strengthen the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which has already cut carbon pollution in half in the region since the program started in 2009. Finally, regional transit and school districts from Minnesota to Colorado to Washington State (where King County has committed to electrify its fleet by 2040) are getting on board with electric buses.

The states’ and localities’ actions stand in sharp contrast to the Trump administration’s plans to roll back major federal climate policies, such as the Clean Power Plan and Clean Car Standards.

Environment America is hosting two official events at the summit. “Red States Rising: Climate Action in the Southeast” focuses on actions that Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have taken to reduce planet-warming pollution.  “States Plug Into Electric Buses” will lay out a vision for a cleaner, electric-powered transportation future.

“Despite the best efforts of the Trump administration to turn back the clock on the clean energy revolution, the states are clearly moving forward into the 21st century,” said McGimsey. “The climate can’t wait, and we look forward to celebrating the good news of strong climate action across the country.”