Rob Horowitz: States Stepping Up On Climate Change

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Rob Horowitz, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

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Obama and the state governments have set some ambitious goals for climate change, and are now moving toward them.

Two important recent agreements by over-lapping groups of states build on the new momentum to take real action on climate change created by the tough executive actions announced by President Obama this summer.

Together, Rhode Island and seven other states set a goal of putting 3.3 million electric cars on the road by 2025. They are cooperating in building the extensive number of charging stations needed to make this ambitious goal a reality. Joining Rhode Island are California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Vermont. This comprises 23% of the auto market—the kind of market power that can accelerate the development of zero emission, electric cars throughout the nation. An early positive sign is that the source of these electric cars, the auto industry, praised the effort.

"It's only the beginning"

On a similar cooperative note, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington (together with the premier of British Columbia, a Canadian Province) recently signed the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate Change and Energy pledging an all-out combined effort to reduce greenhouse gases. 

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The San Jose Mercury News reported that among the specific actions promised are “streamlining permits for solar and wind projects, better integrating the electric power grid, supporting more research on ocean acidification and expanding government purchases of electric vehicles.”

Upon signing the agreement, Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) called it a “small, but powerful first step.“ He added, "It's only the beginning. You just watch. Next year and the year after and the year after that, this will spread until finally we get a real handle and grasp on what is the world's greatest existential challenge—the stability of our climate, on which we all depend."

Taken together, the three western states and British Columbia produce an annual GDP of $2.8 trillion. This represents the fifth largest economy in the world.

Making strides

Brown and the other West Coast Governors said their joint effort will buttress President Obama’s tough executive actions announced this summer and they promised to support them. These include using the authority the President has under the Clean Air Act to reduce carbon emissions at existing power plants, the single largest source of greenhouse gases now responsible for 40% of the total United States emissions. Taken together, the components of the Obama plan will enable the United States to achieve the 17% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 it had pledged to accomplish as part of international climate agreements.

This consequential combination of states stepping up and tough Federal Executive Action is at least partially making up for continuing Congressional gridlock, and finally moving us forward on the big climate change challenge ahead.

 

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.

 

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