By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic governors of two U.S. states pledged on Friday to keep building programs on renewable energy and curbing climate change after President-elect Donald Trump's victory this week.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
The comments are a first indication that the Democratic governors are planning to push ahead and fight on climate change.
Trump, a Republican, has said he may repeal subsidies for electric vehicles, a core provision of President Joe Biden's signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA contains billions of dollars in subsidies for clean energy, including for wind and solar energy, and batteries. It is unclear whether Trump would also aim to target those.
KEY QUOTES
"We are going to move forward in the United States, state by state, county by county, city by city, in continuing our tremendous dynamic growth of our clean energy economy," Governor Jay Inslee of Washington state told reporters.
Inslee is a founding member of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors of states and U.S. territories, which it says represents 57% of the U.S. economy.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico said governors have a responsibility to a remind people in the United States and around the world that they act as "subnationals, irrespective of what the agenda is by the leadership in the White House." Her state is a big oil producer, but also produces large amounts of wind, geothermal and solar power.
BY THE NUMBERS
Washington state voters easily defeated an attempt to ax the state's carbon market, which has raised more than $2 billion for programs including innovative public transit, protection from wildfires, and salmon conservation since its 2023 launch.
"This is going to serve, I believe, as a further inspiration to the legislators and governors across the United States to continue unabated our effort reining climate emissions and build our economy," Inslee said.