When they awoke the morning after, climate advocates faced a new post-election reality they fear could set back global efforts to combat climate change. During the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to accelerate oil and gas production, repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and its incentives for clean energy technology, halt President Biden’s pause on LNG exports, and — once again — pull out of the Paris Agreement.
The climate advocates were dismayed to see fossil-fuel-friendly candidates in Ohio and Pennsylvania beat climate-minded incumbents in the U.S. Senate.
But they welcomed the results of several state-level ballot initiatives and a handful of state legislative and gubernatorial victories that should advance climate policies.
“Extremists have taken power at the White House, and they will now try to gut climate policy all across the country at one of the most important moments for curbing emissions,” said Caroline Spears, the head of Climate Cabinet. But she also noted that “multiple state and local climate champions outperformed the top of the ticket, notched critical wins and showed the path forward.” Even without the help of the White House, she added, three-quarters of the country’s Paris climate commitments can be met through state and local action.
Overall, five of six ballot measures tied to climate change saw results considered positive by climate advocates.
In Washington state, voters by near-landslide margins rejected a ballot initiative that sought to overturn the state’s signature climate law and would have reduced funding for clean-energy investments and emissions reduction efforts. Yet voters in the state passed another measure, 2066, that prohibits localities from restricting the use of natural gas.
And California voters approved Proposition 4, a $10 billion bond to finance climate measures including clean energy, water recycling and wildlife protection. Yet in the city of Berkeley and Sonoma County, voters rejected climate proposals that would have taxed natural gas consumption and shut down large farms responsible for water and air pollution, respectively.
Elsewhere, a ballot initiative in Honolulu to create a climate resiliency fund passed, voters in Louisiana passed a constitutional amendment requiring state revenue from renewable energy production to be transferred to a fund for coastal protection and restoration, and voters in South Dakota rejected a ballot measure that would have made it easier to build carbon dioxide pipelines.
In North Carolina, voters may have helped push Trump back into the White House but they also elected Democrat Josh Stein, the state’s former attorney general, as their new governor. Stein, who has a strong record prosecuting polluters, is widely expected to continue the legacy of outgoing governor Roy Cooper, who signed several executive orders to promote clean energy and environmental justice.
“This is a dark day, but despite this election result, momentum is on our side,”
Ben Jealous, Executive Director, The Sierra Club
Voters in the state, as well as in Wisconsin, also broke Republican supermajorities in their legislatures, which could help Democratic lawmakers block anti-climate measures. In contrast, the reverse happened in Minnesota and Michigan, where Democrats lost their advantage of complete control of state government to pass strong climate policies.
In more sobering news for climate advocates, clean-energy candidates failed in both Arizona and Montana to win any seats on state commissions that have a major role in setting energy policy. Susan Bilo, who wanted Montana’s Public Service Commission to consider solar and wind projects, was among the candidates who lost.
And in Arizona, Republicans are leading the races for three seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates electric utilities and is being pressured by clean-energy advocates to speed up the state’s use of solar power.
“This is a dark day, but despite this election result, momentum is on our side,” said Ben Jealous, the Sierra Club’s executive director “The transition away from dirty fossil fuels to affordable clean energy is already underway. Trump can’t change the reality that an overwhelming majority of Americans want more clean energy, not more fossil fuels. Through investments in the Inflation Reduction Act we are creating millions of new clean energy jobs. Clean energy is already cheaper in most cases than dirty fossil fuels, and wind and solar now generate more power in the U.S. than coal.”
The Environmental Voter Project, a nonpartisan group that seeks to mobilize climate-focused voters, said that it helped get more than 642,000 first-time climate voters to vote early in 19 states. It thanked its army of volunteers in a note from founder Nathaniel Stinnett that said, “And we know it might take time for some of you to get back in the game — that’s OK — but we’ll be here when you’re ready. The climate crisis isn’t slowing down, and neither are we.”
