The United States will continue to lead the way toward a cleaner, safer future. Insights from the U.S. Climate Alliance
Trump has called climate change a “hoax” and has vowed to pull the US out of the Paris agreement. Biden tried to make a difference in keeping the US on track to meet global climate goals, but his last-ditch effort is more symbolic because it encourages a grassroots movement in defiance of Trump.
“Across the country, we see decarbonization efforts to reduce our emissions in many ways achieving escape velocity, an inexorable path, a place from which we will not turn back,” White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi said in a call with reporters.
It helps that new solar and onshore wind farms have become cheaper sources of electricity than coal or gas. Most new electricity sources in the US are carbon-free, and they include solar and wind energy. Hundreds of billions of dollars of funding have been authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Current policies put the US on track to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by around 40 percent by the end of the decade compared to 2005.
24 mostly Democratic governors are members of the U.S. Climate Alliance. “The country’s climate-leading governors will carry the torch forward,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York. “This new collective goal will serve as our North Star, guiding us in the years to come and keeping America on track toward a cleaner, safer future.”
The Biden administration says its programs will not go away even if there is a new president with different policies. Biden’s time in office will cause renewable energy projects to continue to operate.
“Subnational leaders in the United States can continue to demonstrate that American climate leadership is determined by so many more factors than the president,” said John Podesta, senior advisor to the President for international climate policy.
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Biden administration officials sounded optimistic that their new 2035 goal could still be achieved through efforts by states, cities and private companies.
In an email to NPR a spokeswoman from the Trump campaign said that in his second term, President Trump would deliver clean air and water for American families.
Even though the country produces more crude oil than any country, President-elect Trump plans to reverse the country’s switch to renewable energy and to revive fossil fuel production.
In the language of climate diplomacy, these new goals are called “Nationally Determined Contributions” – or NDCs. These commitments from countries aim toward the main goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement: to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Some of the worst-case scenarios can come with a hotter climate, and scientists say that they need to avoid that.