Denver Post - With Trump in White House, states must take the lead on climate change

Op-Ed

By Jared Polis

This past year capped off the hottest on record for the third consecutive year, and 16 of the 17 hottest years on record have occurred this century. Polar ice is melting rapidly, even during the winter; Greenland is losing about 260 billion tons of ice each year; and natural disasters including floods and fires in Colorado are getting worse due to human-caused climate change.

We should all be alarmed that several climate-change deniers are about to assume key environmental posts in the Trump administration. We cannot afford a dead stop on all of the progress we have made under President Obama in saving our planet from the devastating consequences of climate change. The hopeful news is we don't have to halt progress, because states can lead the way.

California Gov. Jerry Brown recently announced that California, which has already signed international climate change agreements with Mexico and Quebec, is moving forward with even bolder actions to combat climate change, setting the table for a legal and political showdown with Trump's climate-denial agenda. Brown and state legislative leaders promised to work directly with other nations to reduce emissions and fight climate change, including cutting California's own carbon emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Colorado can do even better.

In the absence of federal leadership, Coloradans should take our rightful role as leaders seriously and work with other states and countries to reduce carbon emissions.

While I will not relent on my fight to protect our environment in Congress, the reality is with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, climate-change deniers leading the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy, and many Republican members of Congress rejecting any evidence that humans affect the climate, the burden is on states like Colorado and California to take action, and fast.

Colorado's water situation is getting worse, already affecting our farmers, tourism and outdoor industries. But it's not only the future of our ski resorts and agricultural areas that are at risk, it's also the sustainability of our quality of life.

Coloradans know we have a lot at stake, which is why voters overwhelmingly passed a renewable energy portfolio standard and Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner support a wind production tax credit federally. Whether it is the federal methane rule, which originated from the policy Colorado implemented, or the Renewable Energy Standard, which Colorado voters approved in 2004 requiring electricity to be derived from renewable sources, our state has already proven its ability to be a leader in promoting the use of clean energy to protect the environment and the health of its citizens. Now it's time to step up on collaborating national and internationally.

In the absence of federal progress, I look forward to Gov. John Hickenlooper implementing a state plan that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 35 percent by 2030, which he committed to last year. I encourage him and his team to go further, and aim for a 40 percent reduction. Almost a dozen states have committed to capping their carbon emissions, and 12 states (not including Colorado) have chosen to go beyond the federal emission standards for cars and light trucks to make our air more breathable and reduce carbon emissions.

There is a great deal of innovation occurring in Colorado, with some of the most brilliant minds and creative startup companies in the world formulating climate-change solutions right in our backyard.

The types of policies we can implement in Colorado, particularly tax policies that use revenue from a tax on carbon to reduce personal and business taxes, would give Colorado a competitive advantage in attracting clean industries that provide good jobs and grow our entire economy.

Coloradans of all walks of life value the environment. We are uniquely positioned to be a true national and international leader on reducing carbon emissions and combatting climate change, but only if we act now and don't let California leave us behind.

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