This post was originally published on Legal Planet. Reprinted with permission.
It’s a tribute to the significance of state climate policies that President Donald Trump devoted an entire executive order to excoriating them as “fundamentally irreconcilable” with his own, fossil fuel-promoting energy policy. Yet, despite all the drama in DC, state governments have continued to make quiet progress in their efforts to expand clean energy and phase out fossil fuels. These states are focused on tangible steps forward, not on capturing online clicks, so their efforts may escape notice. But the cumulative effect of these month-by-month, smaller-scale initiatives is significant. Here are some of the state actions undertaken since Trump took office.
CALIFORNIA — Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders have pledged to seek legislation extending California’s cap-and-trade system beyond 2030.
COLORADO — The state’s air pollution agency adopted stricter rules to prevent methane leaks from oil and gas operations.
ILLINOIS — A new statute provides assurances about payment of project costs for approved renewable energy projects, requires 55 percent of 2030 renewables to come from solar, and creates tax incentives for new battery storage projects.
MASSACHUSETTS — The Department of Public Utilities approved a new three-year plan for energy efficiency, including installing 120,000 heat pumps and weatherizing over 180,000 homes, reducing carbon emissions by 1 million tons.
MINNESOTA — The utility commission approved an Xcel Energy plan to achieve 100 percent clean power by 2035. The plan requires closing all coal plants by 2030, adding 3.2 GW of wind and 400 MW of solar, along with 600 MW of battery storage, and incorporating at least 1.8 GW of distributed energy resources. Minnesota also launched the Large Building Energy Benchmarking Program, requiring large commercial buildings to submit annual energy reports to the state.
NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new statute established a loan program to finance clean energy and efficiency improvements in commercial buildings.
NEW JERSEY — The state agreed to provide $100 million in funding to support zero-emission medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks and buses.
NEW MEXICO — The state passed eight new climate laws covering a wide range of topics, such as advanced grid technologies, geothermal power, energy storage, and funding for projects to reduce carbon emissions.
NEW YORK — State regulators approved a program to provide 1.5 GW of retail energy storage and 200 MW of residential storage. A new law requires new buildings to provide EV charging stations for off-street parking.
VERMONT — State agencies completed a report on a possible cap-and-invest program, which the state treasurer will use as a basis for recommendations to the state legislature.
VIRGINIA — A new law allows lessees to take advantage of the state’s C-PACE loan program. Another law requires consideration of advanced grid technologies when evaluating applications for new transmission lines.
WASHINGTON — A judge overturned a state ballot measure that blocked the state’s move away from natural gas.
The undramatic nature of these initiatives is probably an advantage because they don’t attract much notice from the forces in DC and elsewhere that are hostile to clean energy. Nonetheless, slowly but steadily, they are moving the energy transition forward.
