The U.S. is now officially .
Climate policy is mixed around the Mountain West, but many states are seeing action and a transition to renewable energy regardless of federal leadership.
Last week, Nevada voters that requires state utilities to operate on 50% renewables by 2030, affirming one of the most ambitious state-level emissions targets in the country. A statewide initiative launched this year aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Nevada also has one of the country鈥檚 most promising solar industries.
鈥淩egardless of where the U.S. goes with respect to the Paris accord, there [are] economic drivers with respect to climate action that just have a tremendous amount of momentum,鈥� said Kristen Averyt, Nevada鈥檚 climate policy coordinator.
, Nevada will need to make significant strides to achieve its lofty goals.
Idaho and Wyoming have no , but change is still afoot.
鈥淲hat is interesting in the case of Idaho is that we still see two of the major utilities have made 100 percent clean power commitments,鈥� said Thomas Ptak, a geography professor with the University of Idaho. He鈥檚 talking about and .
Despite no state-level action, Ptak said that renewable transitions in Idaho are taking place at a regional and local level. The state鈥檚 most populous city .
Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico are part of the , a coalition of governors working to advance the goals of the Paris agreement even without federal engagement.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, 萝莉少女 in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .
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