Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer announces plan to make the state carbon-neutral by 2050

Michigan is the ninth state to make the pledge

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has announced that Michigan would aim to become carbon neutral by 2050 - the ninth state to make the pledge. 

The governor signed a directive on Wednesday that tasked the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to come up with a strategy on how to reach the goal by the end of 2021. 

 The aim is to reduce emissions across the state’s key economic sectors.

Michigan, where temperatures have risen over the last three decades across all counties, is the 10th biggest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) wants countries to be carbon neutral by mid-century.

The midwestern state is also a consequential swing state in 2020 presidential election. President Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax" and rolled back dozens of environmental and climate policies, narrowly won the state over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The Trump administration also plans to withdraw the US from the 2016 Paris Agreement immediately if he is re-elected. The decision has led to some states and cities to adopt their own climate targets.

Governor Whitmer, a Democrat who has clashed with Mr Trump over the coronavirus response, said: “Through comprehensive and aggressive steps, we will combat the climate crisis by formally setting and relentlessly pursuing a goal of statewide decarbonization by 2050.

The target will spur the creation of clean energy and energy efficiency jobs, she said.

It calls for all new state-owned buildings to be carbon neutral by 2040 and existing buildings to reduce energy use by 40 per cent by 2040.

Whitmer also set an interim goal for the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 28 per cent below 1999 levels by 2025.

The order does not yet outline emissions-cutting requirements for the state's auto manufacturers, but companies like Ford have already set a carbon neutrality goal. 

Ford and GM have also said they plan to build electric pickup trucks in the state.

Wires contributed to this report