Matt Stein is a North Hampton resident and CEO of climate analytics company Salient Predictions.

We didn’t realize it at the time, but when my family and I moved from California to New Hampshire in 2021, we also traveled back to the stone age on climate policy. Among its New England neighbors, the Granite State has the worst record on climate resilience, is the only state absent in the U.S. Climate Alliance, and is the only state with no functioning climate action plan or CAP (its 2009 CAP was never implemented).

Yes, our prior home is an outlier. California typically leads the U.S. on climate issues like electric vehicles (100% sales by 2035), carbon markets (statewide cap-and-trade program), and renewable energy standards (carbon-free by 2045). So, comparing the two is not fair. But, I didn’t know it was possible for a state, in this day and age, to be as much of a straggler on climate as New Hampshire was. It baffled me.

Two years later, after volunteering with local climate advocacy groups, testifying on climate bills in Concord, and getting to know my representatives, I’m starting to see a clearer picture. When it comes to climate, it seems that our governor and many of the state legislators are afraid. They are fearful of accountability (“Acknowledging climate’s impacts makes me accountable to the state’s citizens.”), reality (“If I ignore the increasingly visible signs of climate change, they will magically vanish.”), complexity (“Climate is multi-layered. It’s complicated and requires too much hard work.”), and disapproval (“Discussing climate is a third rail in my party. I can’t afford the risk.”)

Our representatives provided a masterclass on these fears at the State House this winter, as votes for both HB 372 and HB 208 split down party lines and failed. HB 372 was a bill to study the economic impacts of a federal price on carbon for New Hampshire citizens and businesses. Given the traction in Washington, carbon pricing seems inevitable, so preparing for it is the prudent thing to do. HB 208 was a bill to draft a climate action plan including greenhouse gas reduction targets. The longer we wait to do this, the harder the transition will be for our economy.

Importantly, federal grant money from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) would have funded the CAP’s creation. Also, accessing the billions of dollars in IRA grants earmarked for states’ climate-related infrastructure requires an up-to-date CAP, so instead, it looks like we’ll be giving New Hampshire’s fair share of federal funds to other states. Talk about being fiscally irresponsible.

While native Granite Staters may be more accustomed to and weathered by these do-nothing voting patterns on climate policy, as a relative newcomer, I feel an indignant voice inside me screaming, “The Granite State is in the f’ing stone ages on climate!” My thoughts spiral, wondering if the Live Free or Die mentality is fundamentally at odds with this complicated policy issue. Then, minutes later the calmer optimist in me takes over, and I can’t help reframing the situation: What would it take for New Hampshire to lead the pack on climate-related issues in New England?

And, then I get excited. This, I believe, requires a completely different mindset. One that replaces fears with possibilities and opportunities. One that embraces wrestling with, and not avoiding, difficult issues. And, one that considers the needs of New Hampshire’s citizens, who during the last couple of months, voted almost unanimously in favor of HB 372 and HB 208. In short, it requires our elected officials to do their jobs. And if they can’t, then the growing multitude of climate-conscious voters will bring in new ones who can.

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