Peter Walks for Democracy

State and local governments will persist in climate action. That’s the conclusion of a recent piece in Grist. We have virtual certainty the incoming Trump administration will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, leading to widespread worry about other nations’ commitments to reduce emissions and achieve the 1.5° or 2° C temperature goals. But there are lots of other actors at the state and local level who will carry on. What sets them up? What are they doing? What are some examples of these actions? What do they mean for the future?

Last March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that 45 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and dozens of Metropolitan Statistical Areas had developed climate action plans. These were supported by the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, which incentivized state and substate governments to reduce pollution, aggressively address environmental inequities, and develop clean and resilient infrastructure closest to the source. 

“The diversity of ideas and ambitious initiatives from all across the country reflect the seriousness that states and metropolitan areas are bringing to the work of cutting pollution, acting on climate change, and meeting their local objectives,” said Deputy Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, Jennifer Macedonia. These plans create are aligned with the goals of the U.S.’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, goals incentivized by the Inflation Reduction Act as well as state and local policy. This alignment has created opportunities.

The participants have created a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) that matches their unique conditions and priorities. For example, Pennsylvania’s PCAP places “Industrial Electrification, Efficiency, and Process Emissions” as the top priority followed by changes in fuels, renewable energy development, and six others. When substate actors align their actions with the PCAP, the IRA’s funding can assist the following:

·      Help businesses capitalize on new opportunities, spur economic growth and create jobs by supporting new industries, and developing training programs to prepare workers.  

·      Ensure communities, particularly low-income and disadvantaged communities, have a seat at the table, help define solutions, and benefit from their implementation.

·      Gain substantial public health co-benefits through the simultaneous reduction of criteria.

The PCAP’s are not the only benefit.

The Inflation Reduction Act’s economic benefits are already clear. They are spurring job growth and securing families, businesses, and local governments through renewable energy development, energy efficiency, and resilient infrastructure for water, wastewater, and transportation. According to the same Grist article:

In addition to providing incentives to households (last year alone, 3.4 million American families claimed more than $8 billion in tax credits for home energy improvements), the legislation has so far resulted in $150 billion of new investment in the green economy since it was passed in 2022, boosting the manufacturing of technologies like batteries and solar panels. According to Atlas Public Policy, a research group, that could eventually create 160,000 jobs. “Something like 66 percent of all of the spending in the IRA has gone to red states,” [Zeke] Hausfather said. “There certainly is a contingency in the Republican party now that’s going to support keeping some of those subsidies around.”

Repealing the IRA or attempting to claw back funding that’s been distributed to the states could be politically risky. But banking on standard political calculations with this incoming White House seems naive. To paraphrase one political observer, you can’t play chess with someone who eats the pieces. Nevertheless, Governors, mayors, and other local officials who aren’t hyper-ideological nor free of the physics of reputation and pragmatism, will continue to support climate action because its benefits are clear.

I see these benefits in at least three ways in my work: capital projects in my school district, an aggregated solar power purchase agreement among ten local governments in Centre County, Pennsylvania, and through my position as the Co-Director of Penn State’s Local Climate Action Program. 

Last week the State College Area School District’s school board approved the bids for a renovation and expansion on the Mount Nittany Elementary School, including the development of a 157 KW rooftop solar array. It is projected to offset about 80% of the expansion’s electricity demand. The cost of the array is $380,580. The estimated 30% funding from the Inflation Reduction Act brings the cost down to $266,406. If we can acquire a Pennsylvania Solar for Schools grant, we can further bring the cost down to $152,232. That investment provides secure carbon-free electricity over the long and added job security for local installers. [See Item 11.L. Accept or Reject Bid Alternate for MNE Photovoltaic Array on the December 16, 2024 Regular Meeting for details.]

Second, a group of Centre County Pennsylvania governments have been collaborating to create an aggregated solar power purchase agreement. Our goals are to reduce costs and reduce carbon emissions, simultaneously creating budgetary and climate security. As the World Resources Institute and Rocky Mountain Instituterecognize, aggregation creates economies of scale, the ability to collectively bargain, and increase access to clean energy. Our cohort will demand about 25,000,000 kWh of electricity annually, resulting in a ~20 MW solar farm in Walker Township, Pennsylvania. The developer, Prospect 14, has access to tax credits and other incentives that ease investment and reduce costs, creating a lower rate for us: $.0459/kWh in year one.

Finally, through Penn State’s Local Climate Action Program, my Co-Director, students, and I have worked with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and 30 local governments that serve about 2 million Pennsylvanians. They strive to reduce greenhouse gases through actions that make life better in their community. Our students Jonaid Lone and Olivia McMahon worked for Bucks County, delivering a community and government operational inventory that has provided greenhouse gas emissions data for their “Sustainability for County Operations” plan. Kelli Volkomer worked with Lower Macungie Township to see how open space preservation can enhance quality of life, support ecosystems, and sequester carbon. Gemma Morrison and Alyssa Harvey worked with Mechanicsburg to develop projections and priorities that led to establishing a solar co-op with Solar United Neighbors.

From little Mechanicsburg to the aggregated solar PPA to the Pennsylvania PCAP, we have a lot of momentum to draw down greenhouse gas emission. This puts more force behind the calls made through the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnership (CHAMP) formed at COP 28 in 2023. CHAMP commits to supporting “planning, financing, implementation, and monitoring of climate strategies, including but not limited to Nationally Determined Contributions” by subnational governments. If you want to maintain this ambition, get organized and push your governments to get in the game.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee said, “Once people have a benefit, you can’t take it away. [Trump] is going to lose in his efforts to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, because governors, mayors of both parties, are going to say, ‘This belongs to me, and you’re not going to get your grubby hands on it.’” Popular opinion says he’s right. So does my work experience.