The U.S. administration has set a goal to decarbonize the power sector by 2035. Even though progress has been made on climate policies and the achievement of domestic targets has improved as has the country’s reduction in emissions, nevertheless, the provisions on climate financing are not sufficient to compensate for the global fair-share emissions allocation. Thus, the Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific analysis group, has rated the USA’s policies, targets, and finances as “insufficient”.
Climate-related steps
On his first day in office, the U.S. President took steps to restore the climate policy actions previously halted by his predecessor by rejoining the Paris Agreement. He unveiled a long-term strategy that committed the U.S. to net zero emissions by 2050 by mandating the use of federal purchasing power, property, public lands, and waters to support climate actions and by establishing high-level inter-agency groups to facilitate the coordination and implementation of climate action at the federal level.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provides US$350 billion to local governments that have an important role in implementing and enforcing local energy and climate programs. The Biden administration also intends to establish a Clean Energy Standard and invest US$65 billion to upgrade the power sector as part of its infrastructure plan but this still awaits approval by the U.S. Congress.
Criticism over poor climate actions
Regardless of these actions, the U.S. will not meet equitable fair-share contributions to climate change because the improved domestic emission reductions and policies would still result in emissions above the set targets. At the Glasgow summit, Biden declared a willingness to regain the climate leadership but at the same time did not join the pledges to phase out coal mining, to set a timeframe to end the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars, and to compensate poorer countries for climate-caused damage.
“It’s very disappointing because the science is quite clear that we have to turn sharply away from coal this decade if we are going to meet our climate goals. We need very clear signals that orientate the US towards clean energy. The climate crisis is too dire to just wait for coal to fall out. It’s just another signal of the sway the fossil fuel industry still has over US politics,” stated Rachel Cleetus, Policy Director at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Mitch Jones of Food & Water Watch said in a statement:
“The Biden administration has tools at its disposal that it is simply failing to use. This White House should fulfill its campaign promise to stop oil and gas drilling on public lands, put an end to oil and gas exports, and stop approving new dirty energy power plants and pipelines. If President Biden believes we are in an emergency, he should act accordingly.”
State of things
Globally, the United States has the second-highest carbon emissions of 5 billion tons (after China) and has the third-highest per capita emissions of 15.53 tons in 2021. The major cause of CO2 emissions in the U.S. is the transport sector and this has been the case since 2016. The country is the largest contributor to global transportation emissions, generating about twice as much carbon dioxide than the European Union. The highest transportation-related CO2 emissions in the U.S. are in the states of Texas and California.
At the same time, national U.S. emissions in 2020 dropped by roughly 13% compared to the previous year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which severely hampered the transport industry and travel. Due to lockdowns and travel restrictions applied to reduce the spread of the pandemic, emissions in the transport sector fell by 15% in 2020 compared to 2019. Other sectors also saw dramatic reductions including the highly prioritized electricity sector whose emissions decreased by about 10%. However, with the significant fiscal stimulus and the fierce vaccination campaign prompting economic recovery, emissions are expected to rise again.
Americans alarmed
According to the latest survey conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Climate Change in the American Mind, that investigates, tracks, and explains public climate change knowledge, perception of risks, policy support, and behavior, Americans are alarmed.
Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist for the non-profit Nature Conservancy, in her awareness-raising on climate change says that humans play their part in this process. The impacts are serious and even potentially dangerous, no longer being something that will happen in the future. They are affecting us now with wildfires burning large areas, air that is hard to breathe, hurricanes shifting from a tropical storm to a Category 4 sometimes overnight, floods or heavy rainfall, acute and dangerous heatwaves, droughts, etc.
“And if we don’t fix it, it is the fate of civilization itself that hangs in the balance. It’s not about saving the planet. The planet will be orbiting the sun long after we’re gone”, she stated.
