United States Climate Alliance

United States Climate Alliance
  United States Climate Alliance
Type Subnational coalition (not legally binding)
Membership
Leaders
• Co-chair
California Jerry Brown
• Co-chair
New York (state) Andrew Cuomo
• Co-chair
Washington (state) Jay Inslee
Establishment June 1, 2017
Population
• 2016 estimate
 132,817,960[1] (10th)
GDP (PPP) 2016 estimate
• Total
 $8.6 trillion[2] (4th)
• Per capita
 $64,750[1] (9th)

The United States Climate Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of states and unincorporated self-governing territories in the United States that are committed to upholding the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change within their borders, by achieving the U.S. goal of reducing greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide equivalent) economy-wide emissions 26–28% from 2005 levels by 2025[4] and meeting or exceeding the targets of the federal Clean Power Plan.

The Alliance was formed on June 1, 2017, following the announcement earlier that day by U.S. President Donald Trump that he had decided to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. The Alliance also forms a forum for its members to further develop and strengthen their existing Climate Action Plans, through sharing of information and best practices.

As of February 22, 2018, the 17 members of the Alliance made up 40.66% of the U.S. population and 46.46% of U.S. GDP as of 2016.[1][2] After excluding Puerto Rico figures from the emission total, the members' combined share of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions was 25.51% in 2014.[5]

History

Prior the founding of the alliance, 12 states led by Democratic governors signed a petition urging the president of the United States to stay in the Paris Agreement on May 3. A similar petition was signed by 2 states led by Republican governors on May 17.[6]

The Alliance was formed on June 1, 2017, following the announcement earlier that day by U.S. President Donald Trump that he had decided to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. The formation of the Alliance was announced by three state governors: Jay Inslee of Washington, Andrew Cuomo of New York, and Jerry Brown of California. The Alliance is not a legally binding treaty, but a grouping of state governments with similar policies regarding climate change.[7]

The founding press statement was released in three versions on June 1, which all stated that: "New York, California and Washington, representing over one-fifth of U.S. Gross Domestic Product, are committed to achieving the U.S. goal of reducing emissions 26–28 percent from 2005 levels and meeting or exceeding the targets of the federal Clean Power Plan."[7][8][9] The governors of the three founding states are members of the Democratic Party, although the alliance itself is founded as a bipartisan coalition also open for membership of states governed by members of the Republican Party.

By the evening of June 1, the state governors of seven other U.S. states (Connecticut, Hawaii, Oregon, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia) announced their intention to maintain their states' support for the Paris Agreement, though not necessarily as part of the Alliance. All those seven states expressing Paris agreement support on June 1, opted to become members of the Alliance within the next four days. Nearly 70% of Americans, including a majority of people in all 50 states, support the Paris Agreement on climate change.[10]

On June 2, Governor Dan Malloy announced that Connecticut would join the Alliance.[11] On the same day, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker became the first Republican governor to bring his state into the Alliance.[12] Governor Phil Scott of Vermont, another Republican, said his state would join.[13] Governor Gina Raimondo said Rhode Island would also join.[14] Governor Kate Brown said Oregon would join.[15] Governor David Ige of Hawaii announced that Hawaii would also join, making them the 9th state in the Alliance.[16]

On June 5, Democratic Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced that Virginia would join the Alliance.[17] Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota, Governor John C. Carney Jr. of Delaware, and Governor Ricky Rosselló of Puerto Rico joined the Alliance on June 5.[18] On July 11, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper announced that Colorado would join the Alliance, bringing the total number of members to 14 (thirteen states and Puerto Rico.)[19][20]

On July 13, the alliance's official website was launched.[3] As of the launch of the website, the members of the alliance comprised 13 out of the 14 states having signed a petition urging the president of the United States to stay in the Paris Agreement in May 2017 (only Pennsylvania had opted not to join).

On September 20, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced that his state would join the Alliance, bringing the total number of state members to 14.[21] On January 10, 2018, Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland became the third Republican to join the Alliance, bringing the total number of state members to 15.[22] On February 21, 2018, newly elected Governor Phil Murphy announced the state of New Jersey is joining the Alliance, bringing the total number of state members to 16.[23]

Membership

State/territory Governor Joined CO2 emissions from fuel use and energy production in 1990, 2005 and 2014
(million metric tons)[5]		 CO2 emissions per capita in 2014[24]
(metric tons)
 California Jerry Brown   D June 1
2017[8]		 363.8 389.4 358.0 9.2
 New York Andrew Cuomo   D June 1
2017[9]		 208.9 211.6 169.7 8.6
 Washington Jay Inslee   D June 1
2017[7]		 70.9 78.5 73.4 10.4
 Connecticut Dannel Malloy   D June 2
2017[11]		 40.9 44.1 35.1 9.8
 Rhode Island Gina Raimondo   D June 2
2017[14]		 8.9 11.2 10.6 10.1
 Massachusetts Charlie Baker   R June 2
2017[12]		 83.7 84.5 63.8 9.5
 Vermont Phil Scott   R June 2
2017[13]		 5.5 6.8 5.9 9.4
 Oregon Kate Brown   D June 2
2017[15]		 30.8 41.1 38.0 9.6
 Hawaii David Ige   D June 2
2017[16]		 21.7 23.0 18.4 13.0
 Virginia Terry McAuliffe   D June 5
2017[17]		 95.3 129.2 104.0 12.5
 Minnesota Mark Dayton   DFL June 5
2017[18]		 78.9 101.9 94.9 17.4
 Delaware John Carney   D June 5
2017[18]		 17.6 17.4 13.3 14.2
 Puerto Rico Ricky Rosselló   PNP June 5
2017[18]		 20.5 37.4 28.3 7.9[5][1]
 Colorado John Hickenlooper   D July 11
2017[19]		 65.2 95.4 91.6 17.1
 North Carolina Roy Cooper   D September 20
2017[25]		 111.4 154.0 126.8 12.8
 Maryland Larry Hogan   R January 10 2018[26] 70.3 83.5 61.5 10.3
 New Jersey Phil Murphy   D February 21[27]
2018		 110 131 114 12.68

Potential members

Gubernatorial candidates Andrew Gillum, Gretchen Whitmer, J. B. Pritzker, Michelle Lujan Grisham have promised their respective states of Florida, Michigan, Illinois and New Mexico will enter the alliance if elected during the 2018 gubernatorial elections.[28][29][30][31]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016" (XLSX). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Gross domestic product (GDP) by state (millions of current dollars)". Bureau of Economic Analysis. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 "United States Climate Alliance Launches Website to Inform Americans on State Actions to Address Climate Change". Governor of New York. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "U.S.A. First NDC Submission" (PDF). United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). September 3, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 For state emissions, see "State Carbon Dioxide Emissions". www.EIA.gov. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Retrieved June 2, 2017.
    For Puerto Rico emissions, see "Puerto Rico: Total Carbon Dioxide Emissions from the Consumption of Energy". The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "Massachusetts and Vermont Call on Trump Administration to Stay in Paris Agreement". GeorgeTown Climate Center. May 17, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 "Inslee, New York Governor Cuomo, and California Governor Brown announce formation of United States Climate Alliance | Governor Jay Inslee". governor.wa.gov. June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "CA Governor Brown, NY Governor Cuomo and WA Governor Inslee Announce Formation of U.S. Climate Alliance". Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. June 1, 2017.
  9. 1 2 "New York Governor Cuomo, California Governor Brown, and Washington Governor Inslee Announce Formation of United States Climate Alliance". www.governor.ny.gov. June 1, 2017.
  10. ↑ Wilts, Alexandra (June 1, 2017). "Majority of Americans in every US state supports Paris climate deal Trump is poised to withdraw from". The Independent. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  11. 1 2 "Gov. Malloy Adds Connecticut to Coalition of States Committed to Upholding the Paris Climate Agreement". Connecticut's Official State Website. June 2, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  12. 1 2 Murphy, Matt (June 2, 2017). "Gov. Baker Enters Mass. Into Multi-State Climate Alliance After U.S. Withdraws From Paris Agreement". WBUR. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  13. 1 2 "Vermont to Join US Climate Alliance". US News. June 2, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Rhode Island to Join States in Paris Climate Agreement Pact". US News. Associated Press. June 2, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  15. 1 2 Jeff Mapes (June 2, 2017). "Oregon Will Join Climate Change Coalition To Meet Paris Goals". www.opb.org. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  16. 1 2 "GOVERNOR'S OFFICE NEWS RELEASE: Governor joins U.S. Climate Alliance, will sign bill aligned with Paris agreement". governor.hawaii.gov. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  17. 1 2 Newsroom, WHSV. "Gov. McAuliffe announces Virginia's joining of U.S. Climate Alliance". Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "United States Climate Alliance adds 10 new members to coalition committed to upholding the Paris Accord". governor.wa.gov.
  19. 1 2 "Colorado signs on to U.S. Climate Alliance, joining states committed to exceeding Trump's rejected Paris climate targets". The Denver Post. 2017-07-11. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  20. ↑ "Colorado commits to state climate action". Governor of Colorado. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  21. ↑ "North Carolina Joins 14 States in Bipartisan U.S. Climate Alliance". Raleigh: Governor of North Carolina. September 20, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Maryland will join alliance of states supporting Paris climate agreement, Hogan says". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  23. ↑ Cerqueira, Julie (22 February 2018). "New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Joins U.S. Climate Alliance". U.S. Climate Alliance. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  24. ↑ "Table 5. Per capita energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by state (2000-2014)" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). January 2017.
  25. ↑ "North Carolina Joins 14 States in Bipartisan U.S. Climate Alliance". Raleigh: Governor of North Carolina. September 20, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Maryland will join alliance of states supporting Paris climate agreement, Hogan says". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  27. ↑ Cerqueira, Julie (22 February 2018). "New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Joins U.S. Climate Alliance". U.S. Climate Alliance. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  28. ↑ "https://andrewgillum.com/2017/06/statement-gillum-pledges-keep-florida-tallahassee-paris-climate-accord/". Andrew Gillum for Governor. June 3, 2017. External link in |title= (help)
  29. ↑ "Clean Up Our Drinking Water". GretchenWhitmer.com.
  30. ↑ "JB's Priorities for Protecting the Environment". JBPritzker.com.
  31. ↑ "Making New Mexico a Leader in Clean Energy". NewMexicansForMichelle.com.
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