Even with a climate denier in the White House, local and state initiatives gather steam
Sorry, fellow Earth dwellers! The new order coming to the US under Donald Trump 2.0 does not favor our planet’s environment and could put a stranglehold on ambitious climate action kick-started by the Biden administration.
Trump, who pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement in his first term (2017-20), has just done it again. In his inaugural address, he repeated his vow to ”drill, baby, drill,” and export oil worldwide. He threatens to emasculate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), supercharge oil and gas under the Department of Energy (DOE), and lift protections on federal lands. The painstakingly crafted bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is pumping billions of dollars into climate-friendly projects from battery factories and public transit to fish conservation projects, is in his sights.
“[W]hile the United States federal government under Donald Trump may put climate action on the back burner, the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States.”
As US climate envoy John Podesta told a gathering at COP29, for those concerned about climate, the election outcome is “bitterly disappointing.” But it’s not the whole story. “[W]hile the United States federal government under Donald Trump may put climate action on the back burner, the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States.”
How? Progress will come from a patchwork of important initiatives at the local and state level.
Exhibit A comes from the Pacific Northwest: During the November election, voters in Washington state chose to preserve the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) by a resounding 60%. The CCA, one of the nation’s most ambitious initiatives to drive down GHG emissions, was targeted for repeal by a ballot measure funded by fossil fuel companies and a conservative hedge fund manager.
The CCA is a cap-and-trade program that requires the state’s largest GHG emitters to lower emissions while paying for pollution allowances that grow increasingly expensive. The bill’s authors dubbed it a “cap and invest” to emphasize that the funds are earmarked for projects addressing climate change, not merely flowing into the murky waters of the general budget.
In the CCA’s first two years, auctions of these pollution allowances raised more than $2 billion that is being funneled into EV charging stations, electrification of ports and the state’s large ferry system, air quality monitoring, tribal conservation, and pollution remediation in poorer communities.
The ballot initiative to kill CCA, ballot initiative I-2117, failed in spite of a deep-pocketed campaign to convince voters that the legislation is responsible for high gas prices in Washington (only partially true) and at a time when voters are extra vexed about inflation and the cost of living.
The effort to keep the CCA and defeat I-2117 was supported by a coalition of environmental concerns, health and teachers unions, and billionaires including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Also, interestingly, BP.
State by state
Granted, Washington is a deep blue state with consistently progressive policies. But it was just one example of many, in both Republican and Democratic areas, North and South, coasts and heartland, where locals chose a different climate narrative than the one Trump is committed to at the federal level.
“It’s worth remembering just how big American states are. California is the world’s fifth-largest economy, and the energy transition is fully advanced there. Texas is the eighth largest economy — larger than Russia.”
–Just after Christmas, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the Climate Change Superfund Act — a “polluter pays” approach requiring fossil fuel companies to share the costs of infrastructure required to adapt to climate change, becoming the second state to do so, after Vermont. California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Minnesota may be next.
–In November, the state of Oregon restored its cornerstone Climate Protection Program of 2021, its own version of cap-and-invest legislation. The law was in limbo because of a challenge to the rules by utilities and fuel producers. Minor revisions allowed it to be reinstated and go into effect with the start of this year.
—In Louisiana, while Trump won the popular vote by a decisive 20 percentage points, 73% of voters backed a ballot measure requiring all state revenue from renewable energy to go into a Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund.
–California voters approved Prop 4 allowing the government to raise $10 billion for fire and flood resilience, forest preservation, offshore wind projects and more.
–Through a ballot measure, South Dakotans shot down a law meant to ease the construction of carbon dioxide pipelines. These pipelines, a part of a carbon capture and storage scheme (controversially getting support from Biden’s IRA) were opposed by farmers and environmental groups over land rights, safety and environmental concerns.
This patchwork of initiatives has been under way, but overshadowed by the multi-trillion-dollar IRA and infrastructure legislation that the Biden administration brokered. Now it is the focus for many activists seeking to keep climate initiatives going.
“It’s important to make gains everywhere and it is still possible city by city, and state by state,” writes climate activist Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org and Third Act.
“That sounds like small beer — but it’s worth remembering just how big American states are. California is the world’s fifth largest economy, and the energy transition is fully advanced there. Texas is the eighth largest economy — larger than Russia. Things are ripping along there too.”
Remember, the oil-and-gasland state of Texas leads the country in solar and wind power and battery storage capacity.
Honolulu, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Boston and beyond
US cities too have gained momentum and can exercise a great deal of influence by decarbonizing through building codes, public transportation, energy efficiency incentives, and walkability projects, says Hilary Firestone, Western Regional Director for Climate and Energy at the Natural Resources Defence Council. NRDC was involved in American Cities Climate Challenge, a program launched in 2019 by Bloomberg Philanthropies — a direct response to Trump pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement in his first term — to bolster city-level climate initiatives.
While federal policies and programs were stalled out, “we were just full steam ahead passing policies left and right,” says Firestone.
US cities too have gained momentum and can exercise a great deal of influence by decarbonizing through building codes, public transportation, energy efficiency incentives, and walkability projects.
In the city of San Antonio, Texas, voters passed a public sales tax to improve public transit. Denver, Colorado leaders proposed a sales tax to bolster solar panel installation, e-bike access, electrification, green jobs training, and more — and voters approved this by a resounding 65%. Other cities adopted green building codes and financial programs to support conversion to heat pumps.
The initial group of 25 cities in the cities challenge, working with a set of influential climate advocacy groups and sharing climate roadmaps is projected to reduce 74 million metric tons of carbon emissions through 2030 compared to business as usual.
The threat from above
In general, says Firestone, these local climate programs and policies are out of reach from the federal government.
“There’s lots of threats federally – taking away control from the EPA, the DOE and around (federal) rules and regulations,” she says. And there will no doubt be court battles around these moves for years. “But when you come to state and local initiatives, there’s a lot that we do for climate that sits entirely within the state’s jurisdiction.”
There will also continue to be legal challenges from fossil fuel interests, who enjoy the favor of the Trump administration. In a very recent example, on the last day of 2024, the powerful American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chambers of Commerce filed suit against the tiny state of Vermont for its “polluter pays” legislation — which could prove to be a precedent-setting case for this type of climate law.
In other states, fossil fuel companies are fighting lawsuits against them for historical deception over the climate damage caused by their products — a battle that mirrors the fight with Big Tobacco — with mixed results including in Hawaii and Minnesota.
It remains to be seen whether Republican lawmakers actually slash the climate funding that would otherwise flow to their districts, creating a healthier environment and jobs for their constituents.
And finally, there’s a threat to the federal funding that was flowing through the IRA to local and state projects around the country. Some of the climate projects cited here went on to secure federal funding, while many others have applications still pending.
“A lot of the projects that got kickstarted… are in red states,” says Firestone. “So there already have been legislators who said, you know, we might not have voted for this, but we see the benefit now in terms of job creation and investment here in our state…”
So, as the country swears in a climate-denying president, and ushers in a Republican-majority Congress filled with lawmakers who have proven a remarkable degree of loyalty to him, it remains to be seen whether they actually slash the climate funding that would otherwise flow to their districts, creating a healthier environment and jobs for their constituents.
Featured photo: Washington State Capitol Building in Olympia, Washington.