2019 State Activities to Mitigate GHG Emissions

Federal, state and local government policies aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions are taking off. Across the United States, at least 455 cities support emission reductions in the context of global efforts, including 110 with emissions reduction targets, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program.

The chart shows the total number of activities taken in states across six policy areas and the priority each state has placed on each type of carbon reduction policy. For instance, California has a robust legal mandate to reduce emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, resulting in a large number of transportation policies. GHG Target/Cap/Pricing projects are of particular note. States in the Northeast take part in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a mandatory market-based effort to reduce power sector emissions, resulting in Northeastern states leading the way with a large number of GHG Target/Cap/Pricing Projects and energy efficiency projects.

Mitigation is crucial for determining the future risks and impacts of climate change. It may be too late to stop climate change entirely, but with a great commitment to mitigation, some of its worst impacts can be avoided. Meeting the oft-cited goal of limiting the long-term global average temperature to 2°C will require hard caps on the total amount of carbon emissions added to the atmosphere.

Read the full report: https://nca2018.globalchange.gov