State Action
The Georgetown Climate Center works collaboratively with states and regional climate initiatives to advance effective climate, adaptation, and transportation policies, and to strengthen state and federal climate partnerships.
The Center serves as the convener of the Governors’ Energy and Climate Coalition and the Transportation and Climate Initiative and helps facilitate ongoing information sharing among the nation's three regional climate initiatives.
News and Updates
A new study calls on the State of Virginia and coastal localities to launch a comprehensive and coordinated planning effort to avoid catastrophic flooding related to sea-level rise.
The report predicts that flood risk will continue to worsen for at least the next 50 years. For example, more than 40 percent of Virginia's Accomack and Northampton counties could face severe flooding from an estimated sea-level rise of one and a half feet and storm surges of an additional three feet -- numbers the study says represent “a very moderate assumption” for the region.
The report was issued by a group led by he Virginia Institute of Marine Science (...
On April 19, 2013, The California Air Resources Board (ARB) voted 5-0 to approve a plan to link its greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program with the province of Quebec’s emissions trading system beginning January 1, 2014.
The linkage is intended to create a broader regional GHG market for the covered entities in both jurisdictions, offering market participants greater flexibility and reducing compliance costs.
CARB's governing board approved the agreement to link the program along with amendments to the rules governing its cap-and-trade program, which was launched on Jan. 1, 2013. The revised rules allow...
In its first auction since tightening its cap on carbon pollution, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) raised a total of $105.9 million for nine participating states to reinvest in projects such as energy efficiency, renewable energy development, greenhouse gas abatement, and climate change adaptation.
Allowances were sold for $2.80 each at the March 13 auction, a 45 percent increase in the selling price in the previous four auctions resulting from the regional initiative's decision to lower its cap on carbon pollution by 45 percent. The $2.80 allowance price was $0.82...
On February 7, 2013, the nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) announced they are proposing to lower the regional power plant CO2 emissions cap by 45 percent and to introduce more flexible cost control mechanisms to the regional cap and trade program.
The states released an updated model rule and a summary of accompanying recommendations resulting from a comprehensive two year ...
On January 25, 2013, a California Superior Court issued a ruling allowing the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to use carbon offset projects as a compliance tool under the state’s economy-wide greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program.
At issue in the case are four protocols the California ARB approved in October 2011 that give cap-and-trade program participants the option of meeting a portion of their emissions reduction obligations by investing in projects that reduce methane from livestock operations, destroy refrigerants with high-global warming potential, and create carbon sinks by planting new forests through two separate protocols.
The case was brought...
On Dec. 28, 2012, Governor Martin O’Malley signed the "Climate Change and Coast Smart Construction Executive Order" to increase Maryland’s long term resiliency to flooding and sea-level rise. The order directs that all new and reconstructed state structures and other infrastructure improvements in Maryland be planned and constructed to avoid or minimize future flood damage.
“As storms such as Hurricane Sandy have shown, it is vital that we commit our resources and expertise to create a ready and resilient Maryland, by taking the necessary steps to adapt to the rising sea and unpredictable weather,” said Governor O’Malley. “In...
On November 15, 2012, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) voted to harmonize their greenhouse gas reduction standards for model year 2017-2015 vehicles with those from the federal government.
The California ARB will accept U.S. EPA's greenhouse gas standards, which EPA and the Department of Transportation finalized in August along with fuel economy standards of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. There are several slight differences between the state and federal rules, but California calculated the difference would be only a 4.5 percent loss in greenhouse gas reductions within the state.
The national standards will result in 569 million metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions by...
