A new network of former lawmakers, farm leaders, and clean energy advocates has gathered under the banner of Carbon-50 to support an inclusive, 50-state strategy to address climate change. The project is co-chaired by former House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., Director Emerita at the Environmental & Energy Study Institute Carol Werner, and former president of the National Farmers Union Roger Johnson.

“To confront the enormous threats posed by climate change, we need solutions that will outlast any single administration, and that requires an inclusive, 50-state strategy that creates green jobs from the coast to the farm belt,” said Johnson. “We urge policymakers to go beyond the traditional lip service and sincerely embrace the leadership potential of groups like farmers, who are eager to work with the Biden administration to promote renewable electricity, low-carbon biofuels, efficiency, and innovative techniques that can turn our farmland into a carbon sink.”

Carbon-50 recognizes that 41 states already have more clean energy jobs than fossil fuel jobs, but the profile of those jobs is very different from state to state. The coalition supports broad-based solutions that are economically meaningful across a diversity of communities, and it opposes strategies that pit one low-carbon solution against another. To support this effort, the coalition has outlined principles for a 50-state carbon plan, available at Carbon50.org.

“The battle against climate change will not be won by coastal states alone,” added Johnson. “From Iowa wind to California biofuels, there are opportunities to create a new generation of green jobs that will fuel a powerful and lasting political coalition to advance climate progress.”

Other members of Carbon-50’s board include former congressmen Rick Nolan, D-Minn., and Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., as well as Bill Miller, vice-chair of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Minority Farmer & Rancher Advisory Committee. Alongside George Miller, Nolanand Delahunt were among 50 former Agriculture, House and Senate leaders across 42 states who recently sent a letter encouraging President Biden’s climate czar, Gina McCarthy, to embrace a green agenda that can withstand “shifting political winds" by harnessing “talented labor and diverse renewable resources" across all 50 states.