States keep proving that climate action works  

How about a little bit of good news as we close out the year?  

It was, after all, a challenging year, as extreme weather, drought and heat caused billions of dollars in damage to the economy, to communities, and to human health. It’s easy to feel like we’re falling behind in the fight against climate change.  

However, these negative impacts are spurring greater efforts to address climate pollution than ever before. And in the more than two dozen states that are taking aggressive action, they’re not falling behind at all.

According to the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 25 governors committed to reducing the pollution that is dangerously warming the planet, those states are collectively on track to hit their 2025 climate goals — a 26 percent reduction in pollution from its peak in 2005.  

There’s still a long way to go, but these states are proving that robust climate policy works. What’s more, they aren’t making any economic sacrifices. In fact, they are achieving much of their policy success with the strong backing of the business community, as companies and investors increasingly realize that climate change is a major risk to their operations and that its solutions present vast economic opportunities.  

State policymakers aren’t slowing down. As crucial federal policies and growing ambition in the private sector unleash a surge in clean energy investment across the country, states took strong action in 2023 to further seize this opportunity.  

Here are just some of the impressive policies won in the states in the last year to capitalize on clean energy action that creates jobs, cuts pollution and confronts climate change — setting the stage for even greater gains toward our climate goals.  

Minnesota and Michigan each moved decisively this year to pass ambitious laws requiring 100 percent clean electricity to power their grids by 2040. Not only is this an essential step toward achieving the states’ goals to effectively eliminate dangerous, planet-warming pollution by 2050, it also marks a clear effort by two Great Lakes leaders to attract investment, increase energy efficiency programs and create local clean energy jobs. Importantly, both legislative packages include protections for communities where fossil fuel plants will retire; Michigan included measures as well to responsibly accelerate permitting and siting for clean power infrastructure to ensure projects can come online, providing a model for other states across the country seeking to strongly implement their own climate and clean energy policies.  

Long the national leader on climate policy, California made history this year by passing two sweeping laws that will affect thousands of companies across the U.S. The state’s new climate disclosure rules will require large companies that do business in California to publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions, including from across their supply chains, as well as the risks they face from the harmful effects of climate change caused by that pollution.

This meets a long-term demand of investors who have sought greater insight into how companies are managing the threat of climate change. The laws’ passage was especially notable for its support from several major businesses themselves. Companies realize that strong risk management against climate change is a competitive advantage, and they see significant value in a consistent and standardized way for businesses across the economy to disclose their progress.  

States continue to lead the way in accelerating the shift to more efficient vehicles that cut pollution, fuel costs and maintenance expenses. In 2023, another six states — Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New Mexico — adopted the Advanced Clean Cars II policy, which will dramatically grow sales of electric vehicles and other fuel-efficient models in the coming years, joining seven states that previously adopted it.

Additionally, Colorado, Maryland and New Mexico each adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which will similarly boost production and sales of cleaner medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, bringing the total number of states with the policy to 10. States are also leading the way on building charging infrastructure to support the growing number of electric vehicles on the road. Under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, funded by the bipartisan federal infrastructure bill of 2021, every state in the country is moving to add charging networks along their highways. Ohio recently won the race to get the program’s first charging station up and running.  

While leading states have already set strong goals to cut or eliminate climate pollution, too many have been laggards. That will change soon. Using funds from the federal Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s biggest carbon pollution reduction investment in American history, all but four U.S. states are now in the process of establishing state climate plans, which require them to set goals for emissions reductions and outline how they plan to achieve them.

Other IRA programs are filtering to the states as well, such as those that will help residents upgrade to new efficient appliances like heat pumps and induction stoves, demonstrating that states will continue to play a huge role in achieving the nation’s climate goals.  

As we look to 2024, implementation will be the key to our success. Local, state and federal officials have an unprecedented opportunity to collaborate to achieve our shared goal of a safe and healthy future for all.

Alli Gold Roberts is the senior director of state policy at the sustainability nonprofit Ceres.