NC is fighting climate change. Washington must support us
Beginning this week, countries across the world are coming together in Glasgow for COP26 to discuss how the world will address our climate crisis. I have joined with more than 500 state legislators from 47 states and territories calling on the federal government to raise our ambition and strengthen our national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. The time for action is now, and as the largest historical contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, the United States has a moral and practical responsibility to reach net zero emissions by or before 2050.
As a state legislator, I see firsthand the impacts of climate change in my state. Across the country this year we have seen historic damages from hurricanes and wildfires, droughts and flooding, heat waves and cold snaps. Over the past five years in North Carolina, we have experienced drought, wildfires, severe flooding and rain events, and two deadly 500-year storms (Hurricanes Matthew and Florence) that cost the state billions of dollars. According to NOAA, 2021 has been the wettest year on record for our state — so much so that even western North Carolina, high in the mountains, has been affected by deadly flooding this year associated with Tropical Storm Fred.
These impacts have opened the eyes of decision-makers from both parties, and North Carolina has seen real leadership on climate change. In 2017, Gov. Cooper joined North Carolina with other states in the U.S. Climate Alliance, expressing commitment to the greenhouse gas reduction targets in the Paris Agreement. Since then, the Cooper administration produced Executive Order 80 to further this commitment and subsequently published the Clean Energy Plan and the North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan as blueprints for achieving these goals.
At the same time, there has been a nearly universal and bipartisan recognition in the NC General Assembly that action and investment is needed to make North Carolina communities more resilient and adaptive to a changing climate and extreme weather. A state budget is currently being negotiated that may include historic investments in climate mitigation, flood control, and adaptation projects for communities across the state. Key Republican leaders from heavily-impacted parts of eastern North Carolina have spearheaded this effort.
Despite the bipartisan recognition of these problems, we are still a ways off from where we need to be to fully protect our communities and our environment from the perils of a changing climate. And when pressed to do more, many of my colleagues in the legislature balk at bolder steps without knowing first what commitments will be made by the federal government and the international community.
In other words, while state action is crucial, it is not enough — we can’t do this alone. States rely on the federal government to serve as a strong baseline for climate action. The actions being taken by North Carolina and other states can serve as a roadmap for federal action. For example, more than two-thirds of U.S. states and territories have some form of Renewable Portfolio Standard or Clean Energy Standard, and more than a dozen have committed to 100% clean energy. States are also transitioning fleets to zero-emissions vehicles, making buildings more energy efficient, and protecting natural landscapes to enhance carbon sequestration.
Time and again, states continue to fill the void of climate action at the federal level. But in this critical moment, we must stand as united states. Together, with strong international, national, and state action, we can take the steps that are needed to avoid further climate catastrophe. That is why I encourage President Biden, Sens. Burr and Tillis, Reps. Butterfield, Ross, Murphy, Price, Foxx, Manning, Rouzer, Hudson, Bishop, McHenry, Cawthorn, Adams, and Budd to consider this your mandate from the people of North Carolina. Match and enhance our ambition and dedication in every negotiation room. The US federal government must lead by example in committing to and achieving full decarbonization, just as we strive to do so in our own states.
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 12:00 AM with the headline "NC is fighting climate change. Washington must support us."