The Biden administration is setting up an aggressive environmental agenda with a goal of dramatically reducing greenhouse gases by 2030. The announcement came during a virtual summit of 40 world leaders hosted by President Biden at the White House. The Washington Post writes:
The highly anticipated announcement roughly doubles a target set by President Barack Obama in 2015 as part of the Paris climate accord, by vowing the nation will reduce its emissions between 50 and 52 percent by 2030 compared with 2005 levels. Biden plans to formalize the goal in a submission to the United Nations, the White House said.
Axios reports the new target is meant to “keep the U.S. on a path that would be likely to limit global warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels by 2100. This is the more stringent target contained in the Paris Climate Agreement, which would be more likely to avoid some of the worst effects of climate change. Right now, the world is on course to see around 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) of warming by 2100.”
But just as importantly, the announcement is meant to show the U.S. is back in the game after Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement.
“The signs are unmistakable, the science is undeniable and the cost of inaction keeps mounting.”
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