Climate-literate blue governors — a mix of incumbents and upstarts — will be taking office around the Midwest and Northeast just as more federal money than ever is available for tackling climate change, pointing to a possible new wave of state-level action.
That’s one outcome of the 2022 midterm elections that took climate activists by surprise, happily.
“Definitely a rosier outcome for Democrats than I was expecting,” said Danielle Deiseroth, lead climate strategist at the progressive think tank Data for Progress. “I am very excited about the potential for just so many state-level climate policies that really build off of what the federal government has done in passing the Inflation Reduction Act,” or IRA, the landmark climate law signed by President Joe Biden in August.
