Before this week is out, almost every U.S. state will have a climate plan.
The reason: a little-known program that experts and climate advocates credit as one of the most important parts of President Joe Biden’s signature climate law. The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program offered $3 million to states to develop a climate plan — and all but five governors took it, bringing climate planning into state capitals where Republicans have otherwise shown little interest in decarbonization.
Now, those climate plans are due. States face a Friday deadline to submit their plans to EPA, followed by an April deadline to apply for implementation grants worth between $2 million and $500 million. (The program also sets aside $300 million for tribes and territories in a separate process.)
The grants encourage states to experiment with new policies that other states — and even the federal government — could later copy.