Webinar Recap: Defending Climate Policy — Breakout Discussions with State Advocates

As climate policy rollbacks spread across the country, states are left grappling with how to navigate an increasingly defensive policy landscape. From attacks on renewable energy to broader attempts to undermine climate planning and protections, advocates and policymakers are working hard to maintain momentum garnered in previous years and protect communities from further backsliding.

In this participatory event, we connected attendees with policy experts to explore how states can defend against attacks on climate policy. Ruby Wincele, Policy & Research Manager at Climate XChange, provided an introductory presentation on state-level trends related to attacks on climate policy and progress. Then, attendees went into breakout rooms for deeper dives into the defensive strategies advocates in the Southeast, New York, and Michigan have used to hold the line and gain traction with climate policies. Our advocate lineup included:

• Abigail Franks, Membership and Policy Manager at Southeast Climate & Energy Network, presented on Southeast states.
• Jon Binder, Executive Director of the Model Climate Laws Initiative, a joint initiative of Columbia Law’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Environmental Advocates NY , presented on New York.
• Courtney Brady, State Advocacy Director at Evergreen Action, presented on Michigan.

Ruby Wincele, Climate XChange

Learn more by watching the webinar at 04:01. 

Ruby provided an overview of the attacks on climate policies that states across the country are experiencing. Highlights from her presentation include:

• While climate policy is scapegoated as the cause of rising energy costs, cuts to climate measures and energy efficiency directly increase long-term costs. Contributors to rising energy costs, such as aging infrastructure, extreme weather recovery, and volatile fossil fuel prices, can be mitigated through effective climate policy.
  • State example: According to Maryland Governor Wes Moore, the state’s recently enacted Utility RELIEF Act “will save Marylanders at least $150 on their energy bills every year,” while the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy estimated that weakening the state’s energy efficiency program will cost ratepayers $592 million in net increased electricity costs.
• Many states are enacting anti-climate policies, including:
  • Limiting state authority to regulate climate issues by prohibiting agencies from enacting rules stricter than federal standards.
    • State examples: Enacted in Alabama, Tennessee, and Indiana, and proposed in Utah and Kentucky.
  • Prohibiting local climate action.
    • State example: Enacted in Florida.
  • Promoting fossil fuels by approving new gas plant buildout, adopting “all of the above” energy strategies, and adding fossil fuels to the definition of clean energy.
    • State examples: New York’s 2025 Energy Plan, Louisiana’s Whole-Of-Louisiana Energy Strategy, and Massachusetts’ Executive Order No. 654. 
  • Protecting polluting industries, such as oil and gas and agriculture, from legal liability related to their emissions and climate impacts.
    • State examples: Enacted in Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah.
• Many states are repealing or weakening existing climate policies related to GHG reduction targets, clean energy mandates, building decarbonization and energy efficiency programs, and vehicle electrification, including: 
  • Delaying deadlines and implementation of existing programs and policies.
    • State example: Enacted in Connecticut to decrease existing zero-emission vehicle targets.
  • Scaling back climate and clean energy targets.
    • State example: Arizona’s repeal of the Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff.
  • Reducing energy efficiency funding.
    • State examples: Enacted in Maryland, and proposed but not advancing in Rhode Island.

Breakout Rooms: Case Studies in Defending Climate Policy

We highlighted the work of advocates in three states to defend climate policy and push for meaningful progress:

• In the Southeast, Abigail Franks from the Southeast Climate & Energy Network talked about many Southeast states’ shared contexts of disaster vulnerability and industry influence, which make climate policy simultaneously necessary and difficult to advance. She shared themes dominating their policy fights in these states, including the deployment of AI hyperscale data centers, proliferation of fossil fuel buildout, continued voter disenfranchisement, and how advocates have built strong, diverse coalitions to defend climate and energy affordability.
• In New York, Jon Binder from the Model Climate Laws Initiative shared the state’s battle to defend their landmark climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), against misleading attacks that the law caused affordability issues. He shared how a broad coalition of stakeholders was able to secure wins on certain pollutant regulations and funding for environmental justice communities and heat pumps.
• In Michigan, Courtney Brady from Evergreen Action discussed the state’s transition from major clean energy progress under a Democratic trifecta in 2023, to an anti-clean energy agenda when the Democrats lost the House in 2025. Advocates countered a narrative around clean energy driving bill increases by highlighting the impacts of utility actions and clean energy repeals on energy costs.