States, Ports and Power Lines Lead the Climate Fight as Federal Action Stalls

At Climate Week NYC, a lineup of state officials, energy executives and policy leaders made the case that the most consequential climate action in America is happening far from Washington — in courtrooms, at ports and along high-voltage transmission corridors stretching across borders.

• California AG has filed 93 lawsuits in 87 weeks against federal rollbacks, winning 83% and protecting more than $200 billion in climate and social program funding
• New 1,250 MW power line from Quebec slashed NYC electricity prices 75% during a July heat wave while displacing pollution equivalent to 9,000 cars
• New York announces $1 billion clean energy spending plan — the second consecutive year of billion-dollar state appropriations — and imposes a data center construction moratorium
• Port of Long Beach commits $3.3 billion over 10 years to double container cargo while reaching zero emissions by 2050, using a first-of-its-kind private tenant-led financing model
• Maryland and New York officials call out data center developers for failing to communicate with communities, stalling projects

The basics: With the federal government actively dismantling climate protections, California's attorney general has mounted what may be the most aggressive state-level legal campaign in modern history — and he's winning most of it.