Dive Brief:
- The United States will aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 61% to 66% in 2035, relative to 2005 levels, President Biden announced Thursday. The goal is an expansion of a target set in 2021, which aimed to reduce emissions 50% to 52% by 2030, using the same baseline.
- The new GHG goal was set amid a slate of climate announcements in the waning days of Biden’s presidency. The White House has also been working to finalize loans related to the energy transition, set new energy efficiency standards for appliances, and on Wednesday allowed California to enact stricter pollution limits on passenger vehicles.
- However, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to reverse a slate of climate efforts taken under Biden’s tenure and withdraw — again — from the Paris climate agreement. Exiting the international climate pact would mean a rejection of the new GHG target, say experts, though the aspirational goal can serve as a “north star” for whatever administration takes the White House in 2029, Debbie Weyl, World Resources Institute's U.S. acting director, said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
The United States is formally submitting the new GHG reduction target to the United Nations Climate Change secretariat as its next nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement, the White House said. How long it will remain in place, remains to be seen.
It took three years for Trump to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement during his first term, because of how United Nations regulations were structured, but experts say it could take just a year this time around — and Trump is likely to ignore the new goal in the meantime.
But some stakeholders still see value in the Biden administration’s actions.
“Even though the Trump administration may not lift a finger to deliver on this plan, it sets a north star for what the U.S. should be aiming for and could help guide the federal government’s priorities once Trump leaves office in 2029,” Weyl said.
The 2035 emissions reduction target is “at the lower bound of what the science demands and yet it is close to the upper bound of what is realistic if nearly every available policy lever were pulled,” Weyl added. “Assertive action by states and cities will be essential to achieving this goal.”
The White House said the new target “keeps the United States on a straight line or steeper path to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050.”
The administration also said it anticipates achieving methane reductions of at least 35% in 2035, as part of the new GHG reduction target. “Cutting methane emissions is among the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming and is an essential complement to CO2 mitigation,” the White House said.
Amanda Leland, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, called the new GHG climate target “realistic and achievable.”
“Federal and state policies ... have sparked a clean energy boom across the nation, and the benefits in jobs and economic competitiveness are too great for the U.S. to back away,” Leland said.
The Union of Concerned Scientists offered a sober take on the news. Current U.S. policies are not sufficient to achieve the previous 50-52% GHG reduction target, the group said.
“Much work remains to be done by world leaders and policymakers, especially if President-elect Trump — who seems hellbent on dismantling widely popular clean energy policies and boosting fossil fuel company profits — once again exits the Paris climate agreement,” said Rachel Cleetus, the policy director and lead economist for the UCS’ climate and energy program.
