Today Biden convened and addressed other countries at a virtual Earth Day Summit on climate change
He formally pledged that the US would cut its emissions at least in half from 2005 levels by 2030 and intends to double by 2024 the amount of money it offers to help developing countries
My take: a great step forward in restoring international confidence in the US to join the fight against climate change. The goal is very ambitious though. Its doable from a technological point of view but not without significant federal incentives and policies, many of which will need approval by Congress or the courts. Studies show that to get there, these are some of the major changes that need to occur:
By 2030, half of the country’s electricity would come from renewable sources such as wind, solar or hydropower, up from one-fifth today.
New natural gas plants would be built largely with technology that can capture carbon dioxide instead of releasing it into the atmosphere — technology that is still in its infancy.
Virtually all of the 200 remaining coal plants in the U.S. would shut down unless they, too, can capture their emissions and bury them underground.
By 2030, two-thirds of new cars and S.U.V.s sold would be battery-powered, up from roughly 2 percent today.
All new buildings would be heated by electricity rather than natural gas.
The nation’s cement, steel and chemical industries would adopt stringent new energy-efficiency targets.
Oil and gas producers would slash emissions of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas, by 60 percent.
The nation’s forests would expand, and farming practices would be reworked, so that they pull 20 percent more carbon dioxide out of the air than they do today.