Advances in State Climate Policy
Despite the distractions of a national election, there have been necessary developments across the country.
Last 12 months, Congress took its first big step into climate policy by passing blockbuster spending measures. Nonetheless, many states are ahead of the Feds in climate policy. There have been necessary developments in a mess of states.
California remained a hotspot for climate motion. By way of transportation emissions, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved regulations banning the sale of recent gas and diesel vehicles by 2035. The law incorporates necessary milestones: 35% zero emission vehicles in 2026 and 68% in 2030. Several states are legally committed to follow the CA standard. This agency motion has already triggered regulation.
The California legislature enacted a significant package of laws, including measures that may require the state to develop into carbon-neutral by 2045 and produce 90% of its electricity from clean sources by 2035. The legislature also decided to maintain the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open for now.
Across the country in Massachusetts, sweeping recent climate laws  directs investment toward renewables, the facility grid, and stationary storage. The law also includes funding for offshore wind energy and electricity grid improvements, incentives for electric vehicles and appliances, and extra provisions focused on natural gas. Notably, the law allows ten cities to ban recent natural gas hookups.
Nearby Latest York issued a draft scoping plan early within the 12 months and finalized it just before Christmas. The plan is designed to attain the state’s goals of  85% reduction in emissions below 1990 levels in 2050 and of 100% zero-emissions electricity by 2040.
Also on the East Coast, a recent Rhode Island law mandates that 100% of the state’s electricity use should be offset by purchases from renewable sources by 2033.
Further south, Maryland enacted an ambitious recent law. Under the 2022 Climate Solutions Now Act (CSNA), a recent GHG emissions reduction goal was established: 60% below 2006 emissions by 2031 and net-zero emissions by 2045. Sadly, neighboring Virginia is backsliding and moving toward withdrawal from the regional emissions trading system, RGGI.
Meanwhile, within the Midwest, there was a giant win for offshore wind. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld a permit for what could possibly be North America’s first freshwater wind farm within the Great Lakes.
This is simply a sample of state-level developments in 2022. The November elections also laid the foundations for further advances in state climate policy.  The Democrats took control of the Governor’s mansions in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Arizona, while keeping control in closely contested races in Wisconsin and Kansas. The Republicans took the governorship in Nevada, but Democrats firmly control the legislature, which should limit backsliding. Democrats also picked up control of legislative chambers in Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and left Republicans with very thin margins in each houses of the Arizona legislature.
State climate motion will even be accelerated by recent federal spending laws. In August, states submitted plans to access $5 billion in federal funding from the Infrastructure Act to develop a national EV charging network. DOE solicited applications from states for the event of renewable resources, efficiency improvements, installation of electrical vehicle chargers and other clean energy projects. One other necessary provision for all state governments is within the Inflation Reduction Act: $250 million to support emission reduction planning by state governments.
Trying to next 12 months, the election results and federal funding are prone to supercharge activities on the state level. 2023 guarantees to be a busy 12 months for state legislatures and energy regulators.
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