Climate Crisis Demands Leadership at the State Level | Opinion

The climate crisis poses an existential threat to our planet, and the action we take in the next few years will shape our survival and that of future generations. Climate action isn’t just guided by presidential administrations or Congress—as many assume—but requires leadership at all levels of government, including by advancing strong climate policy in state legislatures.
The importance of state legislatures has come into sharp focus after a recent Supreme Court decision revoked the power of federal agencies to interpret laws by striking down the legal principle of Chevron deference. Chevron guided federal agencies since the 1980s to interpret and administer the law. With this disastrous decision, the Court upended and endangered the ability of agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency to make progress on vital issues like addressing climate change. The consequences of this decision can’t be overstated.
Unfortunately, this likely isn’t the last controversial opinion we’ll see from this Court, which remains stacked with conservative judges. We may soon look back and see decisions like the one overturning Chevron as just the beginning of a much wider effort to roll back hard-fought rights and policy victories at the federal level of the government. Fortunately, there is a clear solution right in front of us and it is found in the states.
Our federalist system provides state legislatures with immense power over our day-to-day lives, and the vast majority of these chambers are on the ballot in the 2024 elections. This is a clear opportunity to ensure that state legislatures are empowered with Democratic majorities who have shown their abilities to pass policy that moves us forward, especially in areas where the Supreme Court has rolled back the federal government’s ability to act. Elections at this level will determine our future.
In many of our battleground states, we see clear examples of investments and narrow election victories translating to big wins for climate action. In Michigan, where Democratic majorities were won by just a few thousand votes, Democrats have used their power to pass a 100 percent clean energy standard to be achieved by 2040. And in Minnesota, Democrats used just a one-seat majority to pass a law to achieve carbon-free energy generation for utilities by 2040 and 55 percent renewable energy for all utilities by 2035. The progress made by these Democratic majorities and implemented by state-level governments cannot be undone by the U.S. Supreme Court—only by elections, if voters allow it.
That’s why the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is fighting to make sure Democratic majorities are established and empowered in the states to continue to take bold action. One hundred and sixty million Americans currently have their rights protected by Democratic majorities in state legislatures and our target map in 2024 will shape the future for nearly 70 million.
Given the existential threat facing the future of our planet, the DLCC is taking major action to prevent a MAGA takeover in the states. We launched a historic “Summer of the States” call-to-action campaign urging Democrats and supporters of our democracy to invest in and support state legislative races. For just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on federal races, major change can be achieved at this ballot level.
Republicans know this—GOP donors are pouring millions of dollars into the states to boost the chances of a Donald Trump victory and put in place an army of Trump allies who can enact the MAGA agenda even if the GOP’s presidential nominee falls short. Regardless of who wins the White House this year, Republicans’ playbook is to move the MAGA agenda through the states. Investing in Democrats’ efforts to build power in state legislatures is a critical way to defend our future, whether or not Trump ends up back in power.
In the wake of the ruling overturning Chevron, and anticipating future rulings that increase the importance of the states, electing Democrats to state legislatures is the most effective way to ensure progress and protect our environment for generations to come. Some of the most impactful conversations about tackling the climate crisis are happening face-to-face at the local level.
We can’t forget about state races. In this election, state legislatures are deciding the most important issues of our time, which will only become more true as the U.S. Supreme Court continues veering into right-wing extremism and remanding more issues like climate change to the states. There is no Planet B—we must ensure Democrats lead in statehouses to safeguard our future.
Heather Williams is president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.