In the wake of Trump pulling out of the international Paris Agreement on climate change states are taking actions in the absence of federal leadership to reaffirm their commitment to renewable, clean energy and reduced emissions. Case in point, on Monday (June 5) California Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. (D) signed an agreement with California's sister state, Jiangsu Province, to to broaden bilateral collaboration on climate action. 

Recently Nevada's state legislature passed the state's Solar Bill of Rights (AB 405) with nearly unanimous support that would reinstate retail rate net-metering, bringing back the rooftop solar industry to the sun-drenched state. The solar industry praised that action as well as the passage of two other bills that would strengthen and expand the solar industry in the state. The positive actions were enough for Sunrun to announce that it would re-enter the market.

Massachusetts has become one of the nation’s biggest solar power success stories boasting the nation’s second largest solar workforce, thanks in part to its solar incentive programs. However, the earlier generations of those incentives have had some issues that have resulted in stops and starts for the solar industry. Now the state is close to launching the new Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program, which solar advocates support but still have some reservations about. 

Last week President Donald Trump (R) announced that he would pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The controversial decision has been decried by businesses, cities and states. Now a new poll also shows that nearly 60 percent of people in the US are opposed to his decision, while a new report from Standard and Poor’s (S&P) discussed how the decision can impact the US.

Last week President Donald Trump (R) announced that he would pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change or seek to renegotiate it. That news comes as SolarPower Europe announced the world now has 306.5 gigawatts of solar power installed.

Following President Donald Trump’s (R) announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, states are quickly taking action to counter his actions. Case in point, in his home state, New York, Governor Anthony Cuomo (D) has already pledged to uphold New York’s respective commitment to the accord and today (June 2) announced that the state, in partnership with Cornell University, is launching the Clean Climate Careers initiative to create 40,000 more clean energy jobs in the state by 2020, including an investment of up to $1.5 billion in new energy projects alone. 

Yesterday (June 1) President Donald Trump (R) made what many—from states and cities to environmental advocates, and more—are calling a terrible decision, to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement. It’s a controversial move that makes the US a pariah in the international community as it is the only country that has reversed its decision and makes it only one of three countries that are not in agreement with the accord to reduce the impacts of climate change. The other two are Syria and Nicaragua. 

8minutenergy Renewables is entering into the energy storage industry in a big way, with a 1 gigawatt project pipeline. The company, which has over 700 megawatts of solar power in operation in California, will build both stand-alone energy storage projects and solar + energy storage projects. 

During the campaign then candidate Donald Trump (R) pledged to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, which was signed by almost every country. Now, it appears he is on the verge of making such a decision and environmental advocates—and others—are concerned that he will remove the US from the international agreement to reduce climate change.

Earlier this month SC Johnson, the company that makes Ziploc bags, announced that it’s piloting a program to allow its bags to be recycled with all other plastics. Now it’s making them even more environmentally friendly, by powering the facility where they’re made with 100 percent wind power.