Thread by @bopinion

✨Pop quiz: Did the U.S. retire more coal plants during the Trump administration, or during the last four years of Obama?

trib.al/dzkD45b

Surprise! As much as Trump promoted fossil fuels, more coal was retired under his watch than during Obama's last four years.

The lesson: When it comes to clean energy, never underestimate the power of state and local leadership — and market forces trib.al/dzkD45b

Fun fact: The U.S. is actually within striking distance of reaching the goal it set under the Paris climate agreement, a 26% to 28% reduction in emission levels by 2025.

In fact, local and state leadership alone could take us to 37% by 2030 trib.al/dzkD45b

While the Trump administration was trying to drag us backwards, cities, states and businesses were racing ahead.

President Joe Biden needs to encourage these initiatives, write @MikeBloomberg and @CarlPope trib.al/dzkD45b

Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris agreement on his first day in office sends a powerful message, but those paying close attention know that America never abdicated its leadership role.

The action was just happening from the ground up trib.al/dzkD45b

It was local groups and market forces which combined to retire more coal plants than the previous four years.

Going back to 2010, these forces have helped trigger the retirement of about two of every three (339 out of 530) U.S. coal plants trib.al/dzkD45b

Cities, states and businesses have been blazing a clean energy trail and shown that the faster we move away from fossil fuels, the:

🌱More dynamic and prosperous our economy will be
🌱Healthier our lungs will become
🌱Safer from natural disasters we'll be trib.al/dzkD45b

One of the most important steps the Biden administration can take to achieve its climate goals is actually one of the simplest:

Empower cities and states to pursue their own climate agendas — and don’t allow industry to block them trib.al/dzkD45b

A national policy that brings the entire country the benefits of a climate-resilient future is still vital.

But the pacesetters in the clean-energy transition will be the cities, states and companies that have already begun the process trib.al/dzkD45b