US states continue to lead on climate
Resistance is growing to federal unwinding of US environmental protections, while states are increasingly determined to take action
The US federal government has passed several regulatory rollbacks in areas such as industrial pollution over the last 12 months. But sub-national jurisdictions are resisting and, in many cases, stepping up climate and environmental action. States including California, a $3bn economy in its own right, are pursuing a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s elimination of regulations protecting waterways. In turn, the Trump administration is suing California to eliminate a waiver that allows the state to set its own, stricter emissions standards for cars. Given the size of its economy and its progressive outlook, California dominates the US emissions trading landscape, although

Also in this section
9 July 2025
Latin American country plans a cap-and-trade system and supports the scale-up of CCS as it prepares to host COP30
3 July 2025
European Commission introduces new flexibilities for member states to ease compliance with headline goal
1 July 2025
Supportive government policy, deforestation threat and economic opportunity drive forward the region’s monetisation of forest carbon
27 June 2025
TotalEnergies’ delayed FID for its Venus project will likely set back first oil, but Windhoek has other irons in the fire