North Carolina is a leader in the fight against climate change
The author is Secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality:
Climate change is the single greatest challenge we face today and the impacts on our state are sobering. Just last week, the climate scientists at the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies presented their findings to the members of Gov. Roy Cooper’s Climate Change Interagency Council. From rising sea levels and more intense storms to warmer temperatures and increased flooding, the threats are clear and the time for action is now.
In the weeks after Hurricane Florence, Gov. Cooper issued an executive order to combat climate change and lessen the impact of future natural disasters. It’s also the most ambitious step ever taken to transition North Carolina to the clean energy economy of the future.
The order reaffirmed North Carolina’s commitment to the United States Climate Alliance and the goals of the Paris Agreement. It called for a 40 percent reduction in North Carolina’s greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2025, a significant increase in the use of zero-emission vehicles, implementation of energy efficiency measures in state buildings, and a strategic analysis of workforce needs for the clean energy economy.
We followed that up with the North Carolina Clean Energy Plan, which calls for the electric power sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent by 2030, with a goal for the state to be carbon neutral by the year 2050. That plan is the result of many North Carolinians working together to reach a consensus on what is most important: creating a clean energy future for the generations to come that benefits our economy and our environment.
We are proving economic development and environmental protection can go hand in hand. Under Gov. Cooper’s leadership, North Carolina continues to be at the forefront of renewable energy and clean technologies that create jobs. Our state is second nationally in solar and home to nearly one thousand clean energy firms and the second fastest growing tech cluster for clean energy in the country. Our world-class education system fuels the growth and innovation that keeps our state in the lead.
North Carolina isn’t waiting for someone else to solve this problem. The governor and his cabinet agencies are taking unprecedented action and paving the way for future generations to have a clean, sustainable environment in which to live, work and play. We are taking aim at the greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change and actively doing something to make sure the most dire climate predictions don’t come true. At the same time, we are making our communities more resilient by helping them rebuild smarter and stronger to better withstand current and future climate impacts.
North Carolina is leading by example on this critical global issue. In the absence of federal leadership, North Carolina is forging a path for other states and the rest of the world to follow, because we can and must do our part.