Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

2 days ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

2 days ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

2 days ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

2 days ago

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

2 days ago

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

2 days ago

FBI Agents Search Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton’s Home, Source Says

2 days ago

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

2 days ago

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

3 days ago
Biden Pledges to Cut US Greenhouse Gases by More Than 60% as He Exits the World Stage
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 8 months ago on
December 19, 2024

Biden sets ambitious climate goals as he prepares to leave office, while Trump plans to reverse course on environmental policies. (AP File)

Share

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is pledging to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035 as he fights to ensure his legacy on slowing global warming, even as President-elect Donald Trump vows to undo much of Biden’s climate work when he takes office next month.

Biden said the new goal — which supersedes a previous plan to cut carbon emissions at least in half by 2030 — keeps the United States on track to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2050. The U.S. is making a formal submission of the new target, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution, to the United Nations under terms of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Biden said Thursday.

The new goal calls for reducing net emissions by 61% to 66% below 2005 levels in 2035.

“I’m proud that my administration is carrying out the boldest climate agenda in American history,” Biden said in a videotaped statement.

“We’re doing it by setting ambitious goals” such as deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind and conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, Biden said. His administration also has set strict new standards to cut air pollution from cars, trucks and power plants and signed into law the most significant investments in climate and clean energy in U.S. history, he said.

Trump’s Anticipated Climate Policy Reversal

The action by the Democratic president comes just over a month before he is set to leave office. Trump has already promised to unleash a series of executive actions that will seek to undo most or all of Biden’s climate agenda as the Republican president-elect pushes for “energy dominance” around the globe.

Trump no longer dismisses climate change as a “hoax” but has pledged to dismantle what he calls Democrats’ “green new scam” in favor of boosting production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, the main causes of climate change. Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, as he did during his first term, and will likely move to repeal parts of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, especially subsidies that benefit electric vehicles and offshore wind.

Biden aides tried to downplay the impact of Trump’s return to the White House, insisting that states and local governments can continue to lead on clean energy.

“American climate leadership is determined by so much more than whoever sits in the Oval Office,” said John Podesta, Biden’s senior adviser for international climate policy.

Climate leadership “happens on the ground in our cities and states, from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, from Boise to Baltimore,” Podesta told reporters Wednesday. “And I believe that with this new 2035 target as their North Star, leaders across America can show the world that we are still in this fight for a better future.”

Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that in his first term, Trump “produced affordable, reliable energy for consumers along with stable, high-paying jobs for small businesses — all while dropping U.S. carbon emissions to their lowest level in 25 years. In his second term, President Trump will once again deliver clean air and water for American families while Making America Wealthy Again.”

While carbon emissions dropped around the world in 2020, that was largely due to the economic shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Air travel and other activity came to a near standstill.

State-Level Climate Action Continues

The U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors that support climate action, pledged to work toward the new target, with or without help from the White House.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the alliance’s co-chair, said climate-conscious governors “will carry the torch forward” after Biden leaves office. Hochul, a Democrat, said governors will use the new U.S. goal to “keep America on track toward a cleaner, safer future.”

“By continuing to stamp out climate pollution together, we’re safeguarding public health, protecting the environment, growing the economy and creating good jobs across the U.S,” said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, another alliance co-chair.

Biden, in his remarks, called the new goal “ambitious” and said it would lead to thousands of well-paying jobs, more affordable energy, cleaner air, cleaner water and a healthier environment for all Americans.

“It is also creating real momentum because we’re unleashing American ingenuity and innovation. And together, we will turn this existential threat into a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our nation” for decades to come, Biden said. “I know we can do this.”

Comprehensive Economic Changes Required

The proposal would require sustained changes across the economy, from power generation to transportation, buildings, agriculture and industry, including significant increases in renewable energy such as wind and solar power and steep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

The U.S. pledge includes methane reductions of at least 35% from 2005 levels by 2035, Biden said. Cutting methane emissions is among the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming and is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Debbie Weyl, U.S. acting director of the World Resources Institute, a global research organization, said the new emissions target is “at the lower bound of what the science demands,” but said it was “close to the upper bound of what is realistic if nearly every available policy lever were pulled” in the next decade.

“Assertive action by states and cities will be essential to achieving this goal,” she said, adding that the United States needs to swiftly expand renewable energy and electric vehicles, modernize the electric grid and decarbonize heavy industry.

The nonbinding but symbolically important pledge is a key part of the Paris agreement, which calls for countries to submit so-called Nationally Determined Contributions every five years. A country’s NDC, or climate goal, outlines how it plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help meet the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times.

The Paris Agreement requires that NDCs are updated every five years with increasingly higher ambition, taking into consideration each country’s capacity. The next deadline is February 2025, although Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates have already submitted their proposed NDCs.

“As the world’s largest producer of oil, the largest producer and exporter of fossil gas — and the largest historical climate polluter — the United States has an outsized responsibility to press forward in the climate fight no matter the political headwinds,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading environmental group.

He called the new climate goal a clear signal for governors, mayors and CEOs who support climate action to “step up” and defend climate progress.

“While the incoming administration has vowed to turn its back on the world — again — the majority of Americans want climate action, and the clean energy boom is unstoppable,” Bapna said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Why Epstein’s Furious Grip on Washington Holds

DON'T MISS

US Envoy Meets Netanyahu on Lebanon and Syria, Israeli Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Gerry Spence, Renowned for Courtroom Victories and Unique Style, Dead at 96

DON'T MISS

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

DON'T MISS

Widespread Protests Held in Australia to Support Palestinians

DON'T MISS

VP Vance Says Russia Has Made Significant Concessions Toward Ukraine Peace Deal

DON'T MISS

Israel Strikes Yemeni Capital Sanaa

DON'T MISS

Howard University President to Step Down This Month

DON'T MISS

Hollywood’s Biggest AI Debut? Las Vegas Sphere’s ‘Wizard of Oz’

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

UP NEXT

US Envoy Meets Netanyahu on Lebanon and Syria, Israeli Officials Say

UP NEXT

Gerry Spence, Renowned for Courtroom Victories and Unique Style, Dead at 96

UP NEXT

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

UP NEXT

Widespread Protests Held in Australia to Support Palestinians

UP NEXT

VP Vance Says Russia Has Made Significant Concessions Toward Ukraine Peace Deal

UP NEXT

Israel Strikes Yemeni Capital Sanaa

UP NEXT

Howard University President to Step Down This Month

UP NEXT

Hollywood’s Biggest AI Debut? Las Vegas Sphere’s ‘Wizard of Oz’

UP NEXT

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

UP NEXT

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

6 hours ago

Widespread Protests Held in Australia to Support Palestinians

6 hours ago

VP Vance Says Russia Has Made Significant Concessions Toward Ukraine Peace Deal

6 hours ago

Israel Strikes Yemeni Capital Sanaa

6 hours ago

Howard University President to Step Down This Month

6 hours ago

Hollywood’s Biggest AI Debut? Las Vegas Sphere’s ‘Wizard of Oz’

6 hours ago

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

19 hours ago

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

1 day ago

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

1 day ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

1 day ago

Why Epstein’s Furious Grip on Washington Holds

Opinion by James Kirchick on August 22, 2025. IT ISN’T JUST MEMBERS OF THE MAGA FAITHFUL WHO ARE FEELING LET DOWN. When the F.B.I. release...

5 hours ago

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
5 hours ago

Why Epstein’s Furious Grip on Washington Holds

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack attends an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon July 22, 2025. (Reuters File)
5 hours ago

US Envoy Meets Netanyahu on Lebanon and Syria, Israeli Officials Say

Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos arrives at court with lawyer Gerry Spence. June 28, 1990. (Reuters File)
6 hours ago

Gerry Spence, Renowned for Courtroom Victories and Unique Style, Dead at 96

The Pentagon building is seen in Arlington, Virginia, U.S, April 6, 2023. (Reuters File)
6 hours ago

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

Demonstrators hold placards as they take part in the 'Nationwide March for Palestine' protest in Sydney, Australia, August 24, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
6 hours ago

Widespread Protests Held in Australia to Support Palestinians

Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Sknyliv on the outskirts of Lviv, Ukraine August 21, 2025. (Reuters File)
6 hours ago

VP Vance Says Russia Has Made Significant Concessions Toward Ukraine Peace Deal

Smoke billows from the site of Israeli air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen August 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
6 hours ago

Israel Strikes Yemeni Capital Sanaa

Howard University President Ben Vinson III speaks during an election night event for Vice President Kamala Harris', the Democratic presidential nominee, at Howard University in Washington, on Nov. 5, 2024. Howard University said Friday that its president would leave his job at the end of the month after a tenure that lasted only two years, among the shortest stints in the school’s history. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)
6 hours ago

Howard University President to Step Down This Month

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend