“Stop whining and get to work.” Arnold Schwarzenegger’s direct order at the 2025 Austrian World Summit pierced the mist of despondency that has arisen over so many environmentalists following the Trump administration’s broad dismantling of Biden-era climate rules. As federal designs have been thwarted iconic regulations rolled back, climate project funding cut off, and fossil fuel production promoted in the interest of “American energy dominance”, a quiet revolution is taking place in city halls, state legislatures, and school rooftops nationwide.
Schwarzenegger, who governed as California’s governor some of the most ambitious state-level climate policies in American history, reminded the summit attendees that “70% of pollution is reduced at the local or state level“. His call to action: “Be the mayor that makes buses electric; be the CEO who ends fossil fuel dependence; be the school that puts (up) solar roofs.” The message is simple: when national leadership fails, local ingenuity must fill the gap.
This is not empty rhetoric. Over the last year, municipal and state climate action has surged even as the federal government tore apart key climate rules. California, for instance, has not only held but even increased its renewable energy commitment, with the state producing over 100% of its electricity needs from renewables on a number of days in 2024. This accomplishment is rooted in a Renewable Portfolio Standard calling for 60% renewable electricity by 2030 and a 100% carbon-free grid by 2045, paired with ambitious investments in solar, wind, and grid-scale battery storage.
Decarbonizing public transport is yet another field where city governments are taking the lead. The deployment of zero-emission buses (ZEBs) in the United States hit a new high in 2024, with more than 7,000 full-size ZEBs now ordered, delivered, on order, or operational a 14% increase over the previous year, based on CALSTART’s year-end report. Battery-electric buses lead the pack, but fuel cell electric buses have jumped by 55% over the same timeframe. It is not just a result of market hype; it is the result of focused state and municipal action, including California’s Clean Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project and the Truck Voucher Incentive Program in New York, which balanced the additional upfront cost of electric buses and make procurement easier.
Federal assistance, though reduced, continues to play a major role. In 2024, the Federal Transit Administration allocated nearly $1.5 billion in funding under the Low and No Emission Program and Grants for Bus and Bus Facilities Program, supporting almost 600 new ZEBs and essential charging facilities in 47 states and territories. But as Mike Hynes of CALSTART points out, “It is only with strong federal and state support that we can build on this momentum and continue.” The staying power of these local initiatives proves that, despite federal retrenchment, the transition to cleaner transit is hardly bogged down. Full-size ZEB adoptions have expanded to 7,028 by July 2024.
Electrification of transit fleets is just one aspect of a wider municipal decarbonization plan. Cities are using an arsenal of technologies to cut greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, which contribute a large portion of urban greenhouse gases. A study last year of eight cities worldwide, including Montreal, Canada, and Middlebury, Vermont, concluded that deep retrofits like high-efficiency insulation, heat pumps, and rooftop solar can reduce energy consumption in buildings by as much as 75% in certain areas. New urban building energy modeling (UBEM) tools enable city planners to model the effect of different packages of retrofits, which enables interventions to be prioritized to achieve maximum emissions reduction and grid resilience. The research brings out the fact that “without additional grid decarbonization efforts, total carbon emission reductions for buildings range from 13% to 36% for shallow retrofits and 34% to 84% for deep retrofits across all eight municipalities.” The global building stock’s cumulative carbon emissions need to be kept in check with an annual global renovation rate that has to rise from 1% to 5%.
Schools are becoming centers of renewable energy experimentation. On rooftops across the U.S. and U.K., solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are being installed, not only generating clean electricity but also offering students hands-on learning opportunities. More than 80 schools already have rewired their energy profile, combining solar arrays with LED lighting and battery storage to lower the cost and emissions. As one solar company explains, “Turning the local school roof into a way to produce an income, reduce bills and become a resource for education is something we love being part of“. Solar PV systems and battery storage installations give schools access to renewable energy and save them money on their energy bills.
State and local governments are also leading regulatory and financial tools to drive the clean energy transition. Vermont, for example, enacted a 2024 law mandating its largest utility to get 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, as Chicago switched all 400+ municipal buildings to renewable power, fueled by the Double Black Diamond Solar Farm. These efforts are buttressed by a patchwork of inducements: net metering, renewable energy credits, tax credits, and specialized green banks that mobilize public and private funds for climate-resilient infrastructure.
The technology tracks for municipal decarbonization are growing more advanced. Urban building energy modeling now allows cities to determine which neighborhoods will see the greatest gains through deep retrofits or distributed solar, and real-time information from smart meters and building management systems can be used to implement calibrated demand response measures. Cities such as Kiel, Germany, have expanded these models to manage district heating networks and design future incentive programs, demonstrating the scalability of data-driven methods.
However, there are challenges. The rate of retrofitting current buildings is a long way from being sufficient to achieve ambitious 2030 and 2050 goals. Eight cities’ research discovered that “cities that can theoretically meet their 2030 targets through the tested technology pathways would need to instantly boost the annual retrofit rate for their deep retrofit scenario to 12.5% to reach this goal,” much higher than the present average of 1%. Workforce training, public education, and fair access to incentives are essential elements of any effective local climate plan.
Schwarzenegger’s appeal to action is one that is echoed in the data: effective climate progress is being catalyzed not out of Washington, but out of city councils, school boards, and statehouses. While federal policy teases back and forth, local technical innovation and political will are forging a path forward one electric bus, solar roof, and retrofitted building at a time.
