State Policies And Low Costs Will Sustain The U.S. Climate Fight (Part 2)

States Will Lead on Climate Change in the Trump Era

Editorial Board, December 26, 2016 (NY Times)

“…[Many people expect President-elect Trump to walk away from President Obama’s commitments under the Paris climate agreement and get rid of or weaken the E.P.A.’s Clean Power Plan, which requires states to lower carbon emissions from the electricity sector. He and his appointees might also try to water down fuel economy regulations for cars and trucks, and cut clean energy tax incentives and research spending…States could blunt much of that damage…California and New York plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Hawaii hopes to get all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045…[and many other states have slightly more modest goals]…Cheap natural gas, which has increasingly replaced coal as a fuel source, has had a lot to do with this progress, but so has the drop in the cost of wind and solar power — 41 percent in the case of land-based wind turbines and 64 percent for solar, between 2008 and 2015…

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…The cost of batteries has dropped by almost three-fourths…[In some states, new wind turbines] can generate electricity at a lower cost, without subsidies, than any other technology…Solar panels have not reached that point yet in the United States, but developers of big solar installations in [some] countries…have signed contracts to sell electricity for much less than conventional fossil fuel plants charge…States are also beginning to put a price on carbon emissions to increase the cost of older fuels and encourage cleaner sources of energy, which Congress has refused to do…Lawmakers, environmental groups and individuals who care about climate change ought to fight every effort to take the country backward on this issue. But it will be just as important for them to support states that are trying to advance the cause.” click here for more

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