Need to Know

GLOBAL
 - It was recently announced that Michael Bloomberg will be the United Nation's Special Envoy on Climate Ambitions and Solutions for COP26.  More. . . 

FEDERAL
 - As part of his climate plan of action, President Biden is implementing an environmental justice scorecard to ensure that all federal government agencies are held accountable when it comes to climate equity.  More. . .

 - To best be able to follow President Biden's climate strategy and policies over the next four years, it will help to be familiar with the members of the Biden climate team.  More. . .

 - At the end of January, President Biden announced that the federal government would begin phasing out gas-run vehicles in their fleet of vehicles and replacing them with electric vehicles (EV).  He also mentioned creating an incentive plan for consumers who purchase EV vehicles to replace their gas vehicles, however, no further information was given.  More. . .

 - In January, the Biden Administration issued a temporary ban on oil and gas leasing and drilling on Federal lands.  This temporary ban does not apply to Native America tribes, some of who do oil drilling on their tribal lands.  More. . .
 
MULTIPLE STATES
 - While the United States pulled out of the Paris Agreement during the Trump Administration, many states made the commitment to stay in.  Part of that commitment was to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 26-28% by 2025.  However, according to an analysis done by the Environmental Defense Fund, many of the states have fallen behind on being able to accomplish that goal.  More. . .

 - According to a study by the journal Nature Communications, many cities in the United States are inaccurate about the amount of GHG emissions they produce by 20% on average.  More. . .

 - There's a scorecard - the State Transportation Electrification Scorecard - that helps you see which U.S. states are working to provide opportunities for their residents to use electric vehicles (EV).  More. . .

INDIVIDUAL STATES
COLORADO
 - In mid-January, Governor Jared Polis released his administration's “Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap," which includes a plan of action for significantly reducing GHG emissions in the State by 2050.  More. . .

 - The Colorado Governor's Office and numerous Colorado State Departments have a collaboration with ETHDenver - a software building competition - to engage computer hackers in helping to fight climate change.  More. . .

MASSACHUSETTS
 - In the last legislative session, the Commonwealth's House and Senate passed climate legislation - The Next Generation Roadmap - however, it was vetoed by Governor Charlie Baker.  In the beginning of the new legislative session, both the House and Senate again passed the legislation, and Governor Baker has sent it back to the legislature with proposed amendments to the bill.  More. . . 

MICHIGAN
 - At the beginning of this month, it was announced that Governor Gretchen Whitmer had appointed the fourteen members to the new Council on Climate Solutions.  More. . .

MINNESOTA
 - Two state legislators from two different parties, think that there will be the opportunity to pass clean energy legislation in the next legislative session.  More...

NEW JERSEY
 - State legislators have been confronted with two different sides of an issue - both focused on aiding the environment - regarding whether to expand solar farms in New Jersey or whether to save the land that the solar farms would be expanded onto.  More. . .

 VIRGINIA
 - At the end of January, a state House Bill that would remove preventive measures that have not allowed schools and local government in Southwest Virginia to go solar, was passed by the state House.  More. . .

Opportunities to Participate

NOTE: The following is an opportunity for colleges and universities for sign-on; not an opportunity for individuals at colleges and universities.  Are you an individual at a higher education institution who believes your college/university may be interested in signing onto the below opportunity?  We encourage you to reach-out to the leadership at your institution and let them know. 

MINNESOTA
 - This is a sign-on opportunity in relation to The Advanced Clean Car Program (or Clean Cars Minnesota).  If the State of Minnesota were to adopt the Program, it would provide an opportunity for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and advancing clean transportation. 

Coinciding with this, Ceres has organized a sign-on letter in support of policies that support clean transportation.  If you're a higher education institution in Minnesota that has at least one fleet of vehicles on your campus, you understand first-hand the importance of clean car standards.  Here's an opportunity to have your voice be heard. 

At the buttons below, you can read the sign-on letter and also read a background briefing on the Minnesota Clean Cars Program.  For Minnesota colleges/universities; if the leadership at your school is interested in adding your institution's name to the letter, please contact Deanna Dennis at Ceres (ddennis@ceres.org) by February 17th at the latest.  

Sources:

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).  State Transportation Electrification Scorecard.  ACEEE.  URL. 

Baker, R., Jhijazi, J., and Scott, D.  (2021, January 27).  Environment Justice Scorecard Puts Teeth in Biden Equity Pledge.  Bloomberg Law: Daily Labor Report.  URL. 

Besheer, M.  (2021, February 5).  Michael Bloomberg Returns to UN as Climate Envoy.  VOA News.  URL. 

Booth, M. and Jaffe, M.  (2021, January 15).  Colorado governor releases final plan to reduce emissions by 90%.  The Journal.  URL.  

ETHDenver.  (2021, January 26).  Colorado Government Taps 2,000 Hackers to Address Climate Change & Local Economy in ColoradoJam Software Building Competition.  Cision PR Newswire.  URL. 

Graves, M.  (2021, February 6).  Manistee man among 14 appointed to governor's Council on Climate Solutions.  Manistee News Advocate.  URL. 

Hawkins, A.J. (2021, January 25).  Biden wants to replace government fleet with electric vehicles.  The Verge.  URL. 

Herr, A.  (2021, January 27).  These flashcards will help you memorize Biden’s climate team.  Grist.  URL. 

Johnson, T.  (2021, January 26). No fix in sight for dispute over opening NJ farmland to large solar projects.  NJ Spotlight News.  URL. 

Jossi, F.  (2021, January 21).  In Minnesota, key energy lawmakers see potential despite divided Legislature.  Energy News Network.  URL.  

Klepper, D.  (2021, February 8).  Charlie Baker returns climate bill to lawmakers, with amendments.  www.boston.com.  URL.  

Osaka, S.  (2021, January 27).  25 states promised to stay in the Paris Agreement. Did they follow through?  Grist.  URL. 

Reuters Staff.  (2021, January 25).  Tribes exempt from pause in U.S. federal drilling program -official.  Reuters.  URL. 

Schwartz, J.  (2021, February 2).  U.S. Cities Are Vastly Undercounting Emissions, Researchers Find.  The New York Times.  URL. 

Vogelsong, S.  (2021, January 26).  Law aiming to help schools and local governments access solar sails through House.  Virginia Mercury.  URL. 

Our monthly policy updates, information, and opportunities to participate, are developed with support from Ceres, which is an organizational partner of Second Nature.  Ceres has identified the following states plus Washington, D.C. for our primary focus - Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. - because of the beneficial legislative climates and real opportunities for policy advancements in these states.  

Note: The states included in each monthly Policy Update will be based on what policy updates we are recommending for that month, and are due to change - but will always be focused on the above 15 states (plus Washington, D.C.) - from month to month.