Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg is donating half a billion dollars to a new environmental campaign to close all of the coal plants in the US by 2030, he announced Thursday.

Bloomberg, who is estimated to be worth $54 billion, is making the donation to the campaign called “Beyond Carbon” in an effort to bypass the federal government and make the change at the state and local level, Bloomberg said.

With his backing, the campaign is the largest ever philanthropic action to fight climate change, Bloomberg said.

“We’re in a race against time with climate change, and yet there is virtually no hope of bold federal action on this issue for at least another two years. Mother Nature is not waiting on our political calendar, and neither can we,” Bloomberg said.

The former mayor will formally announce the campaign in his commencement address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday.

A spokesperson for Bloomeberg told the New York Times the campaign will fund lobbying efforts at state governments, city councils and other local government agencies.

The lobbying effort will seek to close all coal plants and replace them with renewable energy options like wind and solar power.

With Post Wires