WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is pledging to chop US greenhouse gas emissions by greater than 60% by 2035 as he fights to make sure his legacy on slowing international warming, at the same time as President-elect Donald Trump vows to undo a lot of Biden’s climate work when he takes workplace workplace subsequent month.
Biden mentioned the brand new purpose – which supersedes a earlier plan to chop carbon emissions a minimum of in half by 2030 – retains the United States on observe to realize web-zero greenhouse gas emissions financial system-large by 2050. The US is making a proper submission of the brand new goal, referred to as a Nationally Determined Contribution, to the United Nations beneath phrases of the 2015 Paris climate settlement, Biden mentioned Thursday.
The new purpose requires lowering web emissions by 61% to 66% beneath 2005 ranges in 2035.
“I’m proud that my administration is carrying out the boldest climate agenda in American history,” Biden mentioned in a videotaped assertion.
“We’re doing it by setting ambitious goals” such as deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind and conserving at least 30% of US lands and waters by 2030, Biden said. His administration has also set strict new standards to cut air pollution from cars, trucks and power plants and signed into law the most significant investments in climate and clean energy in US history, he said.
The action by the Democratic president comes just over a month before he is set to leave office. Trump has already promised to unleash a series of executive actions that will seek to undo most or all of Biden’s climate agenda as the Republican president-elect pushes for “power dominance” around the globe.
Trump no longer dismisses climate change as a “hoax” but has pledged to dismantle what he calls Democrats’ “inexperienced new rip-off” in favor of boosting production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, the main causes of climate change. Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, as he did during his first term, and will likely move to repeal parts of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, especially subsidies that benefit electric vehicles and offshore wind.
Biden aides tried to downplay the impact of Trump’s return to the White Houseinsisting that states and local governments can continue to lead on clean energy.
“American climate management is set by a lot greater than whoever sits within the Oval Office,” said John Podesta, Biden’s senior adviser for international climate policy.
Climate leadership “occurs on the bottom in our cities and states, from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, from Boise to Baltimore,” Podesta told reporters Wednesday. “And I consider that with this new 2035 goal as their North Star, leaders throughout America can present the world that we’re nonetheless on this struggle for a greater future.”
Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that in his first term, Trump “produced reasonably priced, dependable power for shoppers together with steady, excessive-paying jobs for small companies – all whereas dropping US carbon emissions to their lowest stage in 25 years. In his second time period , President Trump will as soon as once more ship clear air and water for American households whereas Making America Wealthy Again.”
While carbon emissions dropped around the world in 2020, that was largely due to the economic shutdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Air travel and other activity came to a near standstill.
The US Climate Alliancea bipartisan coalition of governors that support climate action, pledged to work toward the new target, with or without help from the White House.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the alliance’s co-chair, said climate-conscious governors “will carry the torch ahead” after Biden leaves workplace. Hochul, a Democrat, mentioned governors will use the brand new US purpose to “keep America on track toward a cleaner, safer future.”
“By continuing to stamp out climate pollution together, we’re safeguarding public health, protecting the environment, growing the economy and creating good jobs across the US,” mentioned New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, one other alliance co-chair.
Biden, in his remarks, known as the brand new purpose “ambitious” and mentioned it will result in hundreds of nicely-paying jobs, extra reasonably priced power, cleaner air, cleaner water and a more healthy setting for all Americans.
“It is also creating real momentum because we’re unleashing American ingenuity and innovation. And together, we will turn this existential threat into a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our nation” for decades to come, Biden said. “I do know we are able to do that.”
The proposal would require sustained changes across the economy, from power generation to transportation, buildings, agriculture and industry, including significant increases in renewable energy such as wind and solar power and steep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and coal.
The US pledge includes methane reductions of at least 35% from 2005 levels by 2035, Biden said. Cutting methane emissions is among the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming and is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Debbie Weyl, US acting director of the World Resources Institutea global research organization, said the new emissions target is “on the decrease certain of what the science calls for,” but said it was “near the higher certain of what’s practical if practically each accessible coverage lever had been pulled” in the next decade.
“Assertive motion by states and cities will probably be important to reaching this purpose,” she said, adding that the United States needs to swiftly expand renewable energy and electric vehicles, modernize the electric grid and decarbonize heavy industry.
The nonbinding but symbolically important pledge is a key part of the Paris agreement, which calls for countries to submit so-called Nationally Determined Contributions every five years. A country’s NDC, or climate goal, outlines how it plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help meet the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times.
The Paris Agreement requires that NDCs are updated every five years with increasingly higher ambition, taking into consideration each country’s capacity. The next deadline is February 2025, although Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates have already submitted their proposed NDCs.
“As the world’s largest producer of oil, the most important producer and exporter of fossil gas – and the most important historic climate polluter – the United States has an outsized duty to press ahead within the climate struggle regardless of the political headwinds,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading environmental group.
He called the new climate goal a clear signal for governors, mayors and CEOs who support climate action to “step up” and defend climate progress.
“While the incoming administration has vowed to show its again on the world – once more – nearly all of Americans need climate motion, and the clear power increase is unstoppable,” Bapna mentioned.
