President Joe Biden’s new pledge for the U.S. to cut its economy-wide emissions 50% to 52% by 2030 — unveiled at his climate summit this morning — means largely eliminating coal from electricity, reducing natural gas use significantly, and definitely no new gas plants without carbon capture, according to various recent analyses we’ve reviewed.
We’d also have to increase clean energy sources to more than double today’s share.
In short, the pledge, one of the most aggressive in the world, would require fundamentally transforming America’s fossil fuel-based economy.
Policy details are sparse, for a reason: Owing to that challenge, the administration is not yet providing a detailed road map for how it plans to reduce emissions from each economic sector to achieve its goal and is instead claiming that broad “multiple paths” could do it.
That’s because the administration doesn’t know what it can count on without cooperation from Congress.
Biden’s $2.3 trillion green infrastructure spending proposal, if enacted as is, would certainly do a big chunk of the work in the electricity and transportation sectors.
The electricity side will need to account for the largest chunk of reductions this decade — providing over half of the cuts needed — researchers from the University of Maryland found in an analysis modeling a 51% emissions cut released in February.
Passing the infrastructure plan would be huge: Biden’s package would extend and expand tax subsidies for renewables, storage, transmission, and carbon capture.
On its own, Biden’s proposed clean electricity standard requiring utilities to use 100% carbon-free power by 2035 could achieve nearly half of the nation’s progress toward Biden’s 2030 NDC goal, the environmental group Evergreen has projected.
Emissions reductions in transportation would account for a smaller slice of reductions (11% of 51%) by 2030, the UMD research showed, but play a more important role later on because the gas-powered vehicle stock will be slow to turn over.
Here, too, Biden is leaning on his infrastructure proposal to contribute, by expanding tax credits for EV purchases, giving cash-for-clunker style rebates, and building charging stations. But the Biden administration can also act on its own here by making stronger fuel efficiency standards.
Other sectors, such as buildings, heavy industry, and land, will play less of a role this decade, but changes there could set the stage for deeper reductions beyond 2030.
The Biden administration is also counting on reductions in non-carbon gases, by imposing strong regulation of methane from oil and gas operations, and phasing down hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, by 85% by 2035 as required by an energy bill passed by Congress late last year.
Read rest at Washington Examiner
Australia does not currently possess the political backbone to stand up to the Biden summit agenda.
That is because Australia’s ruling party is horribly conflicted (one should not say parties because, in truth, the junior Coalition partner, the Nationals, have precious little real power).
The ruling Liberal Party is split between the liberal eco-worriers, coalesced around former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and the conservative climate sceptics, coalesced around former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Thus, the compromise candidate, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, is in charge.
Like most compromise candidates, Morrison has a foot in both camps. That’s an untenable position to be in.
Morrison’s lack of support for the outspoken sceptic, Craig Kelly, has seen Kelly resign from the Liberal Party to serve as an Independent.
Biden might as well be President of Australia to boot. The influence his carbon-reducing footprints shall have is mind-boggling.
More than ever, Australia needs a firm hand like Trump across the Pacific, because we do not have a firm hand in charge.
From the article, “In short, the pledge, one of the most aggressive in the world.” Let’s consider what else has been done in the world. In the UK and Germany efforts to reduce emission have resulted in tripling what customers pay for electricity. That means in the US we can expect the rates to more than triple under Biden’s plan. Carbon capture is part of the plan. That is extremely expensive. As is typical Biden’s plan includes storage even though feasible technology doesn’t exist to store enough energy to run a power grid. His goal of 100% renewable power by 2035 means no back up fossil fuel power for when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. The only way this can happen is if blackouts are part of our new reality.
The Democrats are stupid enough to assume that once electrical cars are the only new vehicles that can be sold that normal retirement of older cars will continue as it has. That can’t happen. Even with subsidies the average American family can not afford to by an electric vehicles. The result is the older cars will be repaired to keep going until this insanity passes.
Biden will be dead way before he would see the destruction of our economy from this idiotic plan.
I’ll repost what I said on another article as it is relevant in this case, as well:
All the focus is on “renewables” & battery storage and electricity. The EIA statistics will ALSO point out that fossil fuels account for 80% of PRIMARY energy. That includes transportation, electricity, industrial heat, residential & commercial use. There is no creditable evidence or peer reviewed science or engineering studies, to my knowledge, that supports any of the following: 1.) That “zero emission vehicles” (ZEV’s) whether electric or hydrogen fuel cell can feasibly replace internal combustion vehicles by suggested mandates as early as 2035. Where & how are you going to get all the minerals for all those batteries? 2) Without natural gas or nuclear to “back up” intermittent renewables in power generation, we will continue to DESTABILIZE our domestic electric grid. Battery storage, without significant material & technological advancements will cost TRILLIONS to implement, again, IF you can get all the minerals (lithium, cobalt & rare earth) needed. 3.) Right now, you have No KNOWN options for an affordable, scalable, cleaner & energy dense alternative to replace natural gas & coal (coke), so the U.S industrial base without competitive & available energy simply disappears. 4.) Retrofitting buildings, municipal natural gas bans, heat pumps & all the rest are NO CONSTRUCTIVE solution on a wide scale. Basically, the ongoing Biden energy initiatives look more like a road map to ENERGY POVERTY…
biden dont give darn about American Jobs him and his fellow Democ-Rats are all Traitors and belong in prison doing terms of Life No Parole
Has Biden never heard of Thorium?