Climate action continues to gain more attention, and rightfully so, with more clean energy efforts being introduced in legislation and, at present, state funding. In this piece, we look at the States of New York and California and their current efforts towards the path to renewable energy.

In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a proposal for a nation-leading clean energy and jobs agenda that will further strengthen New York’s commitment to carbon neutrality. This includes investing $1.5 billion in 20 large-scale renewable energy projects upstate and up to $200 million in port infrastructure to make New York the nation’s offshore wind hub.

This is expected to create high-quality clean energy jobs that will “require prevailing wage, and the State’s offshore wind projects will be supported by a requirement for a Project Labor Agreement.”

Furthermore, in addition to establishing a New York State Advisory Council on Offshore Wind Economic and Workforce Development, the State will also invent in an offshore wind training center to prepare New Yorker’s workforce for the transition to clean energy technology.

On the other side of the country, California’s recent wildfires and rising temperatures make for an significant matter that needs to be urgently addressed. In 2018, the State already “requires every new home to have solar panels, a 2nd law to ban any new offshore oil drilling, and a 3rd law to make the states’ electricity grid 100% carbon-neutral by 2045 long after the state experiences climate catastrophe.”

In other countries such as Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, and China, the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) is mobilized to plant millions of trees, install solar panels on every government building in the state, insulate all public buildings, and install wind farms. California can create its own CCC and offer as much as 40 training programs to keep up.