Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires NJ to join U.S. Climate Alliance to uphold Paris Climate Accord.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring New Jersey to join the United States Climate Alliance, and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The State shall join the United States Climate Alliance and uphold the Paris Climate Accord, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and address the threats posed by climate change in accordance with the goals established therefor by the alliance.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require New Jersey to join the United States Climate Alliance, a group formed to pursue policies to uphold the United States' commitments to the Paris Climate Accord in order to address the threats posed by climate change. The group was formed by the Governors of California, New York, and Washington after President Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.
The Paris Climate Accord, joined by 195 countries, sets forth a five-year goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature below 2 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels and aims to limit the increase in average global temperature to 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels. The signatories to the agreement also pledge to undertake rapid reductions in greenhouse gases thereafter in accordance with best available science. Before and during the Paris conference, countries submitted comprehensive national climate action plans. Since the formation of the U.S. Climate Alliance, the Governors of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia, as well as the Governor of Puerto Rico and the Mayor of the District of Columbia joined the alliance. Hundreds of mayors, business leaders, and university presidents have committed to honor the goals of the Paris agreement as well. The United States Climate Alliance is committed to upholding the Paris Climate Accord and reducing greenhouse gases in order to address the threats posed by climate change.
Current member states of the U.S. Climate Alliance comprise 36 percent of the United States population and over 30 percent of the United States gross domestic product. The United States' goal under the Paris Climate Accord was to reduce national emissions by 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.