What should the USA do?
To meet its 2030 NDC, the US must pursue three broad sets of strategies simultaneously:
- Make full use of existing authorities to implement actions by a wide range of federal agencies, including regulations, incentives, loan guarantees, and public-private sector cooperative agreements;
- Fully implement the ambitious climate provisions in the domestic infrastructure and investment legislation enacted by Congress last year; and
- Ramp up state, local, business, investor, and other non-federal action on climate and clean energy policy and investments.
- The Biden administration should fully deliver on U.S. commitments under the Glasgow pledge and International Energy Engagement Guidance to align international public finance with the renewable energy transition and end overseas financing of fossil fuels.
What you need to know about USA?
- Recent opinion research shows that strong majorities of registered U.S. voters support a range of policies to reduce carbon pollution and promote clean energy, such as:
- funding more research into renewable energy sources.
- providing tax rebates to people who purchase energy-efficient vehicles, solar panels, and heat pumps and induction stoves;
- regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant;
- requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a tax on the carbon they produce and using the money to reduce other taxes by an equal amount; and
- requiring electric utilities to produce 100% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2035.”
- Republican presidential candidates reject most policies to cut fossil fuel emissions and pledge to roll back provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act aimed at boosting production and use of clean energy technologies, And the Heritage Foundation has drafted a plan for the next Republican president, proposing to cut nearly all of the federal government’s current climate work, blunt the use of renewable energy and cut current regulations on the fossil fuel industry.
Recent developments, threats and levers for action
Recent developments
- In August, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed carbon dioxide emission limits for new gas-fired combustion turbines, existing coal, oil and gas-fired steam generating units, and certain existing gas-fired combustion turbines, based on technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS), low-GHG hydrogen co-firing, and natural gas co-firing.
- In April, the U.S. EPA proposed new and stronger standards to further reduce harmful air pollutant emissions of greenhouse gases, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM2.5) from light-duty and medium-duty vehicles . The proposed standards would phase in over model years 2027 through 2032.and would provide important benefits to communities near major roadways, where people of color and people with low income are disproportionately exposed to air pollution from vehicles.
- Many states, cities, companies, investors and others continue to ramp up climate action, which will be essential for the US to meet its 2030 Paris Agreement emissions reduction pledge.
Strengths
- The Biden administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to drive ambitious climate action.
- Increasing majorities of Americans express concern about the mounting impacts of climate change and support aggressive action to address the climate emergency.
- Many states, cities, companies, investors, and other subnational actors are implementing strategies to achieve net-zero emissions.
Opportunities
- More states, cities, companies, investors, and others can join those already taking bold climate action, helping to cut emissions while creating jobs and saving consumers money on their energy bills.
- President Biden and his team can help drive international collaboration on deep decarbonization, but the crisis created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and continuing tensions between the US and China both pose challenges on this front.
Weaknesses
- The sharp partisan differences between Democrats and Republicans on climate and clean energy policy mean that no additional bold legislative action will occur before 2025 at the earliest, given Republican control of the House of Representatives.
- The 6-to-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court poses risks to the Biden administration’s efforts to use its executive authority under the Clean Air Act and other statutes to reduce emissions
Threats
- Absent a massive change in the Republican Party’s positions on climate and clean energy policy, there would be a wholesale reversal of federal action to cut GHG emissions if a Republican won the White House in next year’s elections, and serious challenges to federal policy in a second-term Biden administration if Republicans won control of both the Senate and House in 2025.
- High prices for gasoline and home heating are hurting US consumers and leading to calls from Republicans (and some Democrats) to ramp up domestic fossil fuel production.
About Climate Diplomacy Snapshots
The data is clear. Accelerated and enhanced action is needed now to build resilience and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. As they seek to address the ongoing health, economic and social impacts of COVID-19, the Ukraine-Russia war and growing climate change impacts, governments should seize opportunities to invest in a recovery that will build social, economic and climate resilience on the long-term.The Climate Diplomacy Snapshots aim to provide the climate community with a clear overview of what each country should do, on climate and recovery, to pursue these joint objectives and keep the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C. Each has been prepared with the help of national experts, and will be regularly updated. The snapshots aim to support climate advocacy in the lead up to COP28.
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