We strongly oppose Trump’s Executive Order aimed at dismantling critical greenhouse gas reduction efforts. The order directs the U.S. attorney general to identify state laws that address climate change, ESG initiatives, environmental justice, and carbon emissions, and to take action to block them.
This action represents a dangerous step backward at a time when science, public health, and global consensus demand bold and urgent actions to mitigate the climate crisis.
In 2021, the NC General Assembly set specific targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% below 2005 levels by 2030 and attain complete carbon neutrality by 2050. Carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion are by far the largest contributors to climate change. And in North Carolina, electricity generation is the second largest source of greenhouse gases (behind transportation), accounting for a third of our state’s emissions. We cannot meaningfully address the climate crisis without a fundamental shift in how we produce energy. States should maintain the authority to set their own plans, the Tenth Amendment protects this right.
Climate change is already wreaking havoc on North Carolina’s communities, fueling severe heat waves, extreme weather events, wildfires, and rising sea levels. Rolling back policies that limit greenhouse gas emissions not only undermines the progress we’ve made in combating climate change—it threatens the health of our communities and the future of our planet. Clean air and a stable climate are not partisan issues; they are fundamental to the well-being of every American living on Earth.
Andrew Whelan
Communications Manager
(919) 408-7031
[email protected]
