Action Figures

States and cities wield real power over the emissions released within their borders, including from cars, power plants, factories, and buildings. And many aren’t waiting for a top-down approach—they’re taking the lead.

Fifteen states now have binding plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past two years, since the Trump administration pulled the nation out of the Paris climate accord, many have set emissions-reduction goals or strengthened plans they already had on the books. A bill passed in Maine this year, for example, calls for emissions at 80 percent below 1990 levels by midcentury, with a halfway goal by 2030. And Hawaii’s 2018 legislation sets a goal of carbon neutrality by 2045. Connecticut and California, meanwhile, have been working to curb emissions for more than a decade.

“We are transitioning from a fossil-fuel based economy to a cleaner one,” says Suzanne Tegen, assistant director of Colorado State University’s Center for the New Energy Economy, “but without policy, we won’t get there fast enough.”

With support from businesses, community groups, and conservation organizations, including Audubon, states and cities are not only working to mitigate the worst effects