WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is pledging to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035 as he fights to maintain his legacy in slowing global warming, even as President-elect Donald Trump vows to do so Undoing much of Biden’s climate work when he takes office next month.
Biden said the modern target — which replaces a previous plan to reduce carbon emissions by at least half by 2030 — keeps the United States on track to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economywide by 2050. The modern target, known as “Nationally Determined Contribution” to the United Nations under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, Biden said Thursday.
The modern target calls for reducing net emissions by 61 to 66 percent compared to 2005 levels by 2035.
“I am proud that my administration is implementing the boldest climate agenda in American history,” Biden said in a videotaped statement.
“We will do this by setting ambitious goals,” such as deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy and conserving at least 30% of U.S. land and water by 2030, Biden said. His administration also set tough modern standards to reduce air pollution from cars, trucks and power plants and signed into law the most significant climate and neat energy investments in U.S. history, he said.
The Democratic president’s action comes just over a month before he is scheduled to leave office. Trump has already promised to launch a series of executive actions aimed at reversing most or all of Biden’s climate agenda as the Republican president-elect pushes for “energy dominance” around the globe.
No longer dismissing climate change as a “hoax,” Trump has vowed to eliminate what he calls Democrats’ “green new scam” and instead ban the production of fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and coal, the main causes of climate change. to boost. Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement, as he did in his first term, and is likely to repeal parts of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, particularly subsidies that benefit electric vehicles and offshore wind energy.
Biden advisers sought to downplay the impact of Trump’s return to the White House, emphasizing that states and local governments can continue to lead the way on neat energy.
“American climate leadership is determined by so much more than who sits in the Oval Office,” said John Podesta, Biden’s senior adviser for international climate policy.
Climate leadership is happening “on the ground in our cities and states, from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, from Boise to Baltimore,” Podesta told reporters Wednesday. “And I believe that with this new 2035 goal as a North Star, leaders across America can show the world that we are still in the fight for a better future.”
Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that in his first term, Trump “produced affordable, reliable energy for consumers and stable, well-paying jobs for small businesses – all while driving U.S. carbon emissions to their lowest level in recent memory.” “In his second term, President Trump will once again provide clean air and clean water for American families while making America rich again.”
While carbon emissions fell globally in 2020, this was largely due to the economic shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Air traffic and other activities came to a virtual standstill.
The U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors who support climate action, pledged to work toward the modern goal with or without lend a hand from the White House.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, co-chair of the alliance, said climate-conscious governors will “carry the torch” after Biden leaves office. Hochul, a Democrat, said governors would exploit the modern U.S. goal to “keep America on the path to a cleaner and safer future.”
“By continuing to fight climate pollution together, we protect public health, protect the environment, grow the economy and create good jobs across the United States,” said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, another co-chair of the alliance.
Biden called the modern goal “ambitious” in his remarks, saying it would lead to thousands of good-paying jobs, more affordable energy, cleaner air, cleaner water and a healthier environment for all Americans.
“It also creates real momentum because we are unleashing American ingenuity and innovation. And together, we will turn this existential threat into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform our nation for decades to come,” Biden said. “I know we can do this.”
The proposal would require lasting changes across the economy, from electricity generation to transportation, buildings, agriculture and industry, including a significant raise in renewable energy such as wind and solar power and a dramatic reduction in emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and coal.
The U.S. pledge includes a methane reduction of at least 35% from 2005 levels by 2035, Biden said. Reducing methane emissions is among the fastest ways to curb short-term warming and is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Debbie Weyl, acting U.S. director of the World Resources Institute, a global research organization, said the modern emissions target was “at the lower limit of what the science calls for” but said it was “close to the upper limit of what is realistic.” “Almost every available policy lever was pulled over the next decade.”
“To achieve this goal, decisive action by states and cities will be essential,” she said, adding that the United States must rapidly expand renewable energy and electric vehicles, modernize the electric grid and decarbonize weighty industry.
The non-binding but symbolically essential commitment is a central part of the Paris Agreement, which calls on countries to submit so-called Nationally Determined Contributions every five years. A country’s NDC, or climate target, describes how it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet the global goal of limiting temperature rise since pre-industrial times to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The Paris Agreement requires the NDCs to be updated every five years with increasingly higher ambitions and taking into account 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 oil producer, largest fossil gas producer and exporter – and largest historical climate polluter – the United States has an outsized responsibility to advance the climate fight, regardless of political headwinds,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading environmental group.
He called the modern climate target a clear signal for governors, mayors and CEOs who support climate action to “step up” and defend climate progress.
“While the new administration has vowed to once again turn its back on the world, the majority of Americans want climate action and the clean energy boom is unstoppable,” Bapna said.
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Associated Press writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.
