State Climate Actions

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 is currently leading a discussion among the three regional climate initiatives about the possibility of linking their cap-and-trade programs.

News and Updates

Posted July 28, 2010

Despite the Senate’s decision to move forward without a comprehensive climate and energy bill, states are continuing their work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This week the seven states and four Canadian provinces that make up the Western Climate Initiative released their recommendations for the design of cap-and-trade regulations in the region.

Last month, the Georgetown Climate Center also helped 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states (and the District of Columbia) launch the Transportation and Climate Initiative to develop policies and projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. The collaboration will build on ongoing efforts in the region, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the proposed low carbon fuel standard.

“While everyone would like to see the Senate pass a comprehensive climate and energy bill, states are prepared to move forward and will continue to look for innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build the clean energy economy,” said Vicki Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center.more ↓

Two new reports this week also highlight the significant role that states and the EPA can play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in lieu of congressional action.

The Center for Climate Strategies pointed out this week that if all states were to get on board with policies already underway in more than a dozen of them, emissions could be significantly reduced by 2020.

The World Resources Institute also released a report, which finds that the combination of state and EPA action can bring the U.S. within range of the government targets for greenhouse gas reductions by 2020.

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Posted June 29, 2010

The report, completed with assistance from the Georgetown Climate Center and other partners, contains important recommendations for developing resilience in the face of the challenges posed by a changing climate.

Given issues like water shortages that are already affecting much of the West, Governors recognized the need for collaboration in 2009 when the WGA charged a work group to develop the report and committed to adopting policies that support the integration of adaptation science throughout the region.

The 2009 resolution, “Supporting the Integration of Climate Change Adaptation Science in the West”, also identified three specific goals for further discussion, which will continue as the group moves forward:

Foster coordination on adaptation activities, particularly between state and federal efforts
Identify key science needs for Western states
Begin to share smart practices among the states

Click here to download the full report.

Posted June 16, 2010

Eleven U.S. states and the District of Columbia announced today the creation of the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) – a new regional transportation approach that will help states build the clean energy economy of the future.

The group, which includes top environment, energy and transportation officials from participating states, will work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, minimize the transportation system’s reliance on high-carbon fuels, promote sustainable growth and address the challenges of vehicle-miles traveled.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and the District of Columbia will participate, help shape the initiative’s work plan and develop project proposals for consideration.more ↓

The effort will build upon ongoing federal, state and regional collaborations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the recently announced initiative to develop a framework for a Low Carbon Fuel Standard among many of the same Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. In addition, the initiative will seek to coordinate with Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) partners already engaged in similar efforts in their role as metropolitan transportation planning agencies.

DOT's John Porcari and EPA's Gina McCarthy discuss the importance of collaboration between transportation, environment and energy officials with states prior to the launch of the TCI.

The collaboration is expected to significantly benefit individual states by boosting the effectiveness of existing state programs, maximizing the impact of future transportation investments through regional planning, increasing private and public sector innovation and accelerating the growth of clean energy jobs.

The transportation sector is responsible for about 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States.

Through its Declaration of Intent statement, participating TCI states agreed to take concrete actions to address the region’s climate and transportation needs:

“At a time when countries around the world are engaged in a race to build the clean energy economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, U.S. states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions are once again poised to lead the way.

The Transportation and Climate Initiative provides our states with the opportunity to expand safe and reliable transportation options, attract federal investment, lower transportation costs, improve overall air quality and public health, and mitigate the transportation sector’s impact on climate change. Additionally, the TCI provides our states with the opportunity to further our collaboration on the research and development of advanced transportation technologies.

We further believe that this collaboration will aid our current efforts to:

Reduce traffic congestion;

Encourage job growth and accommodate the flow of goods and services;

Establish state and local land use strategies that increase commercial and residential housing density and encourage transit-friendly design;

Improve the performance of existing highway, transit and other transportation modes while enhancing neighborhoods and urban centers; and

Promote mixed-use development that supports viable alternatives to driving.

We understand that the future of transportation and job growth in our states requires forward thinking, the early adoption and deployment of clean energy technologies and a regional approach to clean transportation. We also understand that talking about the future is not enough. We must act.”

TCI states will provide in-kind resources to the initiative through a staff work group, which will lay the groundwork for the TCI’s next meeting and seek public and private funding to support the initiative’s future work.

The Georgetown Climate Center facilitated the TCI’s initial meeting this week in Wilmington, Delaware, with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and the Joyce Foundation.

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Posted June 4, 2010

As ClimateWire points out in a story today, there are close governor’s races in Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois this year.

Most of the current leadership in those states has sought to boost renewable energy and helped create the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord in 2007, which calls for a regional cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

From ClimateWire:
"It matters a lot what happens in these states, particularly since we don't know what the federal government is going to do in terms of climate," said Vicki Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown University State-Federal Climate Resource Center.
…
The six states with tossup races produce about a fifth of the nation's annual carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power sector, according to the Department of Energy.

Posted May 28, 2010

Thirteen states signed onto a letter today in opposition to the Murkowski resolution that would overturn the EPA’s endangerment finding and effectively strip the agency of its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

From the state letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY):
Over the past four decades, the CAA has delivered tremendous public health and environmental benefits, including significant reductions in lead, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and other pollutants. We believe that USEPA regulatory oversight of GHG emissions under this statute will deliver similar benefits.

It would be short-sighted for Congress to remove one of the few effective tools the nation has to address our critical energy and environmental challenges, especially in the absence of effective Senate action on comprehensive climate change legislation to provide an alternative framework.

The letter was signed by environmental officials from California, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington state.

Posted May 18, 2010

The Georgetown Climate Center released a new summary today that outlines the roles for states under the American Power Act.

It has been well publicized that the legislation would permanently preempt state cap-and-trade programs – a change from earlier bills that would have only resulted in a temporary prohibition. Such preemption remains a concern for states and advocates, who believe states need the ability to improve a federal program in the future and have the authority to step back in if a federal program falters. When it comes to identifying state-federal roles, however, the American Power Act does much more than address state cap-and-trade programs.

The 15-page summary released today outlines all provisions that affect states in the 987-page bill, including issues such as allowance allocation, treatment of state and regional allowances, transportation, adaptation, and other issues important to states.

To read the summary, click here.

Posted March 26, 2010

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is now urging the state to freely allocate emission allowances to industrial facilities rather than auctioning most of the allowances as regulators had been planning. In doing so, the Gov. Schwarzenegger cited the need to stay as consistent as possible with federal climate change plans, Inside EPA reports.more ↓

From Inside EPA (subscription only):
Schwarzenegger's push comes as the state is under pressure to suspend or abandon its landmark climate change program in part because of its economic costs, and the governor's call for free allocations could serve as a model for other states and the federal government.

In a March 24 letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), Schwarzenegger, who is in his final year in office, says that while CARB and an expert state panel have already proposed to auction most of the emission allowances under the cap-and-trade program, “full auction of allowances at the beginning of a cap-and-trade program may be too abrupt a transition -- posing high short-term costs to capped companies. A free allocation system, on the other hand, should reward companies that have already made significant investment in energy efficiency and carbon reduction, and should not penalize those that produce goods in California.”

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Posted March 19, 2010

Thirty five states have asked a federal appeals court to become parties in a legal challenge that asks the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review EPA’s “endangerment” finding. The finding cleared the way for the agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

States that have asked to intervene on behalf of the EPA are Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. more ↓

States that have asked the court to intervene in opposition to the EPA are Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

Below are links to some of the state requests to intervene, courtesy of Greenwire (subscription only):

States' Requests to Intervene
States	Requests (PDF)
Pennsylvania DEP and Minnesota	Link
Massachusetts, et al.	Link
Alaska	Link
Michigan	Link
Nebraska, et al.	Link
Texas	Link
Virginia	Link
Alabama	Link

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Posted March 15, 2010

California, which is required to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent during the next 10 years under state law, is making progress toward implementing its own comprehensive climate program.

Recently, the state’s Economic and Allocation Advisory Committee, which includes Vicki Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center, and other experts, recommended that 75 percent of auction revenues from the state’s cap-and-trade program be returned to consumers in the form of tax cuts or annual dividend checks. more ↓

The committee is charged with advising the state on the implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32). The recommendations have been warmly received by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and will be reviewed by the state’s Air Resources Board.

"I continue to believe the best program will be one that returns value to the people through tax cuts, rebates or dividends, and I applaud the Committee for recognizing those options," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

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Posted February 3, 2010

The state plan, which is under discussion in the legislature, seeks a 22 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions within 12 years. The reduction is achieved through a major upsizing of Wisconsin’s existent renewable portfolio standard, demands for cleaner car fuels and incentives for residents who produce their own power.

From Business North:
The bill would mandate that 25 percent of energy be generated from renewable sources – including wind, solar and biomass – by 2025. The state’s current goal is 10 percent by 2015, and at the end of 2008, Wisconsin was just less than 5 percent.

Watch Gov. Doyle discuss the economic development benefits of climate action at a Georgetown Climate Center event during the U.N. Conference on Climate Change.

Posted December 23, 2009

On the heels of her trip to the United Nation’s Conference on Climate Change, Gov. Gregoire announced that she wants Washington state government to be carbon neutral by 2020. She also announced that the state Dept. of Ecology would be the first agency to start enacting measures to reduce its carbon footprint.

From the Associated Press:
"It's one thing for us to talk about climate change and to look at federal legislation, but if we're not keeping our own house in order that's a problem," Gregoire said in a conference call with reporters. "There's a lot of opportunity for us to save money."

Posted December 17, 2009

COPENHAGEN - U.S. governors and Canadian premiers joined the Georgetown Climate Center at the U.N. Conference on Climate change to discuss how sub-national governments have been leading the way on climate change in North America and the prospects that combined state, regional and federal actions hold for future progress.

Participating in the discussion were Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington, Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Premier Greg Selinger of Manitoba, Premier Jean Charest of Quebec, and Premier Gordon Campbell of British Columbia. more ↓

Gov. Gregoire spoke passionately about the opportunity to create and new clean energy economy and sought to assure the world that the United States would “find a way” to meet its climate goals.

View videos and photos from the event.

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