North Carolina adopted a major milestone energy bill on Wednesday that aims to dramatically decline greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s power plants by the end of this decade. The bill was signed into law by Governor Roy Cooper, a member of the Democratic party.

The signing ceremony seemed to be a bipartisan effort between the two parties and the event was rejoiced by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers of the state. Cooper enacted a consensus measure that now tasks the state Utilities Commission with coming up by the end of 2022 with the arrangements to meet the carbon dioxide reduction goals sought by the governor.  

According to reports from the Associated Press citing the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than a dozen US states have passed similar legislation that restricted greenhouse gas emissions. The only other Southeast state to have done so before Wednesday was Virginia.

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Cooper said at the Executive Mansion ceremony on Wednesday, “This is a new beginning”, according to reports from Associated Press. He added, “Putting real and enforceable carbon reduction targets into the law, North Carolina is working to reduce the effect of climate change on marginalized populations, while putting our state at the forefront of the clean energy economy and the jobs that it brings.”

North Carolina’s new rule aims to sharply drop the Carbon dioxide output levels by 2030 and achieve zero-net CO2 emissions by 2050.

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Duke Energy, one of the biggest utility providers of the state, may retire early and be replaced by an evolving mix of alternate fuels for electricity. Duke and other advocacy groups will have input, too.

Senate leader Phil Berger, a Republican, described the law as a pro-economic growth measure, saying the business slowdown during the Colonial Pipeline disruption in the spring signaled the “consequences of an extended energy supply crunch”, according to reports from Associated Press.