This two-part post was originally published as a single post on Legal Planet. Reprinted with permission. This first part covers state climate action from California to Michigan. Click to read Part II.
State climate policy is a big deal. State governments began cutting emissions at a time when the federal government was essentially doing nothing about climate change. Since then, more states have become involved, and state policies have become more aggressive.
It’s not for nothing that 2023 was called a banner year for state climate action. The state developments in just the second half of the year make up an impressive list. I’ve organized a list of those developments by state just to give you a sense of how much is going on and in how many different places.
California
The biggest news since July was the passage of two major corporate disclosure laws. Senate Bill 253 requires major public businesses operating in California to report all emissions relating to their businesses, including those of suppliers and customers. A partner bill, the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261), requires disclosure of the financial threats businesses face as a result of climate change itself and the transition to a net-zero economy.
At the agency level, the California Air Resources Board reached a deal with major truck makers over the state’s phase-out of diesel trucks. The industry agreed not to challenge the standards. In return, the board agreed to revise upcoming smog requirements for trucks to align with new federal standards.
Also, the Building Standards Commission approved amendments to the state’s green building code in August. The changes target emissions from the production and transport of building materials like concrete, steel, insulation, and wood. The initial 2024 phase will apply only to new commercial buildings over 100,000 square feet. In 2026, the threshold will drop to 50,000 square feet.
In addition, the Energy Commission adopted a new “virtual power plant” rule, allowing consumer-owned batteries to be aggregated and treated as power plants when they deliver power to the wholesale electricity market.
Finally, Governor Gavin Newsom entered into five agreements in a series of meetings with Chinese officials. They create partnerships on the deployment of offshore wind and other renewables, climate change adaptation and mitigation, industrial decarbonization, and the creation of a future “green shipping corridor” between Los Angeles and Shanghai.
Colorado
The state’s Air Quality Control Commission approved guidelines for the measurement and verification of oil and gas methane emissions, becoming the latest state to set stricter standards for tracking the potent greenhouse gas. The commission also issued new rules governing the state’s 18 most polluting facilities, including the world’s largest maker of mozzarella cheese. (Who knew cheese was such a pollution problem?) The state’s Chamber of Commerce said regulators are “asking industry to jump out of a plane with a needle, thread and cloth, with the hopes that a parachute can be stitched.”
Delaware
On August 3, 2023, the governor signed seven pieces of climate legislation that strengthen the state’s climate targets, increase electric vehicle and renewable energy requirements, and update building codes. The Climate Change Solutions Act (HB 99) establishes new climate targets, requiring the state to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. State agencies must develop and implement a climate action plan to meet these targets every five years, the first of which is due by November 15, 2025. The Climate Solutions Act also requires state agencies to consider climate change in their decision-making, rulemaking, and procurement. The package also includes six other laws. The most notable of those sets targets for purchasing electric school buses and creates a state EV rebate program.
Illinois
HB 2487 created a Justice40 Oversight Committee responsible for making recommendations on how the state can advance environmental justice and meet the federal Justice40 Initiative’s requirements. The governor also signed SB 2368, which requires climate resilient building codes.
Kansas
The state’s Democratic governor launched a $200 million Build Kansas Fund to provide matching funds for entities applying to Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) programs that require non-federal matches. The fund aims to accelerate IIJA-funded projects in Kansas, including water, transportation, energy, cybersecurity, and broadband projects through fiscal year 2027.
Maine
Maine adopted legislation calling for the state to procure 3 GW of offshore wind power by 2040. The governor signed a revised version after vetoing an earlier bill version over concerns about labor provisions.
Massachusetts
The governor signed a $56 billion state budget on August 9, 2023. Funding towards climate and energy programs includes: (a) a 27 percent increase in funding for the office overseeing the state’s environmental and energy agencies; (b) $30 million to support wind technology, clean-energy homes, and green workforce training programs; and (c) $200 million for public transportation improvements, accessibility, and planning.
Michigan
This has been a busy time for climate action in Michigan. In July, the governor signed six bills to expand clean energy and energy efficiency programs and environmental protections in the state. The most noteworthy of these laws repealed a ban on state regulations being stricter than federal rules, allowing the state to move more aggressively on climate and the environment.
The state’s fiscal year 2024 budget included funding for clean energy, conservation, and environmental justice, such as $70 million to expand clean transportation options like transit and high-speed rail, $14 million to implement the MI Healthy Climate Plan, and $350 million for the Make it in Michigan Competitiveness Fund to leverage federal funding for new or expanded manufacturing in the clean energy sector.
In November, the state passed several clean energy bills aimed at making the state carbon neutral by 2050. The bills require utilities to get 100 percent of their energy from clean energy sources by 2040 (and 50 percent by 2030) and boost energy efficiency. The new laws also shift authority to the state over large-scale wind and solar projects.
Showing 2,822 results
Daniel Farber | January 10, 2024
State climate policy is a big deal. State governments began cutting emissions at a time when the federal government was essentially doing nothing about climate change. Since then, more states have become involved, and state policies have become more aggressive. It’s not for nothing that 2023 was called a banner year for state climate action. The state developments in just the second half of the year make up an impressive list. Part I of this post covers state climate action from California to Michigan.
Dan Rohlf, Zygmunt Plater | January 2, 2024
In the history of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) — which President Richard Nixon signed just over 50 years ago on December 28, 1973 — no creature looms larger than the snail darter. As some lawmakers today seek to weaken the law’s promise to avoid human-caused extinctions, the long-ago battle over this little fish points […]
Daniel Farber | December 11, 2023
The steel industry applied for U.S. Supreme Court intervention on what they claimed was an urgent issue of vast national importance. Chief Justice Roberts requested an immediate government response. That was six weeks ago. Since then ... crickets. No doubt you’re on the edge of your seat, wondering about the impending crisis facing the industry and the earthshaking legal issue in the case. And maybe also wondering why this is the first you’ve heard about it.
Kaitlyn Johnson | November 27, 2023
One in five residents in Baltimore, and one in three Black residents, lives in food deserts — areas where people face systemic barriers to accessing affordable and healthy foods. It’s a problem that has long evaded effective policy solutions. But the rapidly evolving technology of e-commerce platforms offers a new way to bring food justice and security to structurally marginalized communities across the country.
Hannah Wiseman | November 16, 2023
A recent Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania decision has thrown Pennsylvania’s actions on climate change into further disarray. In 2021, through regulatory action by its Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania became a member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is a collection of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states that have agreed to cap emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from electric power plants with 25 megawatts or more of generating capacity. The cap includes an overall regional limit and a cap for each state. Power plants must purchase allowances or offset their emissions (or pursue other options noted below) to collectively meet the state cap. But lawsuits have challenged Pennsylvania’s entry into RGGI, and on November 1, a memorandum opinion of the Commonwealth Court declared that Pennsylvania’s scheme for auctioning CO2 allowances under the state’s RGGI cap was an unconstitutional tax. The court voided the rulemaking.
Catalina Gonzalez | November 15, 2023
On November 15, I joined Member Scholar and University of San Francisco School of Law professor Alice Kaswan in releasing an in-depth analysis of California’s climate and clean energy funding programs for the state’s historically marginalized and underserved communities. The set of reports and fact sheets, "Funding a Clean and Equitable Energy Transition: Lessons from California," follows the recent publication of the Center’s California Climate Justice Index, which details the laws, executive orders, agencies, funding processes, and funding programs that shape climate policy for the nation’s most populous state.
Uma Outka | November 13, 2023
In his first month in office, President Biden signed an executive order, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” recommitting the federal government to climate action and environmental justice. In April 2023, an additional executive order, “Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All,” reinforced the administration’s commitment to a “whole-of-government approach to environmental justice.” The renewed commitment to environmental justice is gratifying for all who care about these issues — and the challenge of accomplishing whole-of-government implementation is real. Among numerous complicating aspects of this shift, one key challenge is state resistance — even outright hostility — to federal environmental justice priorities.
Shelley Welton | November 8, 2023
This summer, we marked the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the United States’ most significant climate change law. Many advocates for environmental justice, myself included, were disappointed by several features of the Act, including the greenlighting of certain fossil fuel infrastructure projects. Nevertheless, the law unlocked unprecedented streams of investment into clean energy via tax credits and direct spending mechanisms.
Lemir Teron | November 6, 2023
Energy justice mandates that renewable energy transitions center marginalized and historically overburdened households, including fenceline and extraction communities, that have faced heightened burdens from the prevalent fossil fuel-based energy system, and further have been mostly overlooked by the burgeoning renewable energy sector.