Washington D.C. (October 28, 2025) – In the lead up to COP30 and the COP30 Local Leaders Forum in Brazil, America Is All In released a new report today demonstrating that significant cuts to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the United States are still achievable by 2035 with ambitious climate action from state, city, and local governments. This report is the latest in an annual assessment from America Is All In that highlights the policy levers local leaders have to advance clean energy and lower living costs for their residents.
“If our current federal government refuses to track and submit U.S. progress toward meeting our climate goals, America Is All In will. We have not stepped away from working globally to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said Gina McCarthy, America Is All In Managing Co-Chair, 13th U.S. EPA Administrator, and first White House National Climate Advisor. “Governors, mayors, the private sector, and more continue to push forward, driving our transition to clean energy. There are so many opportunities at the state and local levels to grow jobs and protect our health and well-being, and we're going to deliver this brighter future for our kids.”
Federal climate policy has changed significantly, and policies that cut emissions have been reversed or rolled back in ways that make emission reductions more difficult. For example, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ended hundreds of billions of dollars in investment and slashed America’s clean energy production capacity, at a moment when nationwide electricity demand is expected to rise. The EPA has repealed rules that cut pollution from vehicles and fossil fuel power plants, and Congress has undermined states’ ability to set their own rules to cut emissions.
Despite these changes, new analysis, led by the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland, underscores that states and local leaders have critical levers – especially in electricity, transport, and methane – to continue to cut emissions. Pathways to 2035: Expanding non-federal climate leadership in the United States shows that with expanded high-ambition climate action from cities, states, communities and businesses, combined with renewed federal engagement after 2028, the United States can still achieve up to a 56% reduction in GHG emissions below 2005 levels by 2035.
“As international partners look to U.S. cities, states, and businesses to fill the gap created by current U.S. federal policy rollbacks, this study underscores the importance of non-federal actions in driving U.S. climate ambition in the near term. A critical component of this report is the need to identify and implement opportunities to raise climate ambition within jurisdictions that currently have moderate or low ambition in order to have the greatest impact on overall U.S. emissions reductions,” said Nate Hultman, Director at the Center for Global Sustainability. “Our findings show that innovative local policies and market-driven clean technology investments can keep the U.S. on a path toward significant emissions reductions, even in challenging times.”
The report identifies concrete, non-federal policy levers across the largest emitting sectors that can help achieve this high ambition climate scenario. These include:
- Electricity Sector: Implement carbon pricing programs and ambitious renewable energy standards, and procure clean energy through community choice aggregation.
- Transportation Sector: Strengthen electric vehicle incentives and infrastructure support to reduce the upfront cost for individuals and businesses, and expand access to more transportation options through incentives, urban planning, and congestion pricing.
- Methane: Reduce methane intensity of natural gas through gas certification standards and require leak detection and repair programs to address leaky infrastructure, and implement waste-diversion targets to reduce the amount of organic waste entering landfills.
“While national policy changes have created new challenges, our analysis shows that subnational governments and businesses still have the tools and market momentum to drive substantial emissions reductions,” said Alicia Zhao, Research Manager at the Center for Global Sustainability. “In particular, if states with less ambitious climate goals increase their ambition and the federal government re-engages after 2028, the United States can make significant progress toward its climate goals.”
Read the full report, including key takeaways on the three scenarios that the Center for Global Sustainability modeled, here.
