In the four years since the last time the US federal government paid close attention to climate change, the problem has become a top priority for states and businesses.
Why does it matter: Washington, DC is not the only, or even the most important, place where significant action on climate change is likely to take place in the years to come.
Where is it: President-elect Joe Biden will try to force some changes at the federal level, but he also expects states to show the United States’ progress on the global stage. Meanwhile, corporate rhetoric about the problem in recent years will now be put to the test.
The big picture: Several states, cities and companies have promised aggressive climate change goals in recent years. It is a trend driven by a number of factors, including the growing urgency of the problem, cheaper clean energy technologies and investors increasingly concerned about the financial repercussions of a warming world.
By the numbers:
- Since 2018, nine states have enacted standards forcing electricity to emit zero carbon dioxide, which represents more than 20% of electricity sales in the United States, according to the Clean Air Task Force, an environmental group.
- Since 2018, nearly 30 utility companies have promised aggressive new carbon reduction targets. When combined with the states above, these targets cover more than 50% of all electricity emissions, according to the group.
- A record number of companies – nearly 10,000 – have disclosed their environmental footprints, including climate change, according to a new report by CDP, a nonprofit organization focused on corporate disclosures. This is an increase of 70% since the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 and 14% compared to last year.
Driving the news: The next Biden government, led by international climate change envoy John Kerry, should rely more heavily on state action, given the limitations of big policy at the federal level, to make commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement, according to with several people familiar with the transition team’s thinking.
- Actions by states, cities and private companies can reduce U.S. emissions by up to 37% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, according to a 2019 report by a consortium of environmental groups and former state leaders.
- That percentage could rise to almost 50% if the federal government re-engages, the report said.
The intrigue: Since Biden announced his appointment, Kerry has also highlighted the shift between businesses.
- “Real entrepreneurs, real leaders in the business world understand that this is imperative,” said Kerry in a recent interview with NPR. “They also understand that there is money to be made in producing the products.”
- A coalition of U.S. Chamber of Commerce member companies created in 2017 with six companies now has 60, according to Hugh Welsh, president of DSM North America, whose science-based businesses span multiple sectors, including climate and energy.
- This effort helped to generate an internal task force in the Chamber that asks its members about, among other topics, what a carbon tax would be like.
- Welsh says the change is due to the change of members.
- “They [the Chamber] they are starting to see that their company’s future is less coal, natural gas and coal companies and more technology companies, ”says Welsh, adding that technology companies support action on climate change.
Yes but: Collaboration is far from guaranteed.
- It is politically easier for companies to speak positively about climate change when the threat of a major policy is not imminent, as was the case with President Trump. According to Biden, companies, especially oil and gas companies, are expected to show whether they really support stricter climate regulations.
- Biden will also face pressure from liberals to target fossil fuel companies in different ways, such as investigating organizations they have founded in the past and who have sown doubts about climate change, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.) told Axios recently.
Go deeper: Big tech takes the lead in climate change