Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

US Supreme Court Lets Parents Take Kids Out of Classes With LGBT Storybooks

1 hour ago

In Win for Trump, US Supreme Court Limits Judges’ Power to Block Birthright Citizenship Order

2 hours ago

California’s Newsom Sues Fox News for $787 Million for Defamation Over Trump Call

2 hours ago

Motorcycle Collides With Tractor in Fatal Fresno County Collision

2 hours ago

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

5 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

22 hours ago

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

22 hours ago

Cargo Ship That Caught Fire Carrying Electric Vehicles Sinks in the Pacific

1 day ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

2 days ago
Biden to Pledge Halving Greenhouse Gases by 2030
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
April 21, 2021

Share

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will pledge to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at least in half by 2030 as he convenes a virtual climate summit with 40 world leaders, according to three people with knowledge of the White House plans.

The 50% target would nearly double America’s previous commitment and help the Biden administration prod other countries for ambitious emissions cuts as well. The proposal would require dramatic changes in the power and transportation sectors, including significant increases in renewable energy such as wind and solar power and steep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

World Leaders to Discuss Combating Climate Change

The nonbinding but symbolically important pledge is a key element of the two-day summit, which begins Thursday when world leaders gather online to share strategies to combat climate change. China announced on Wednesday that President Xi Jinping will participate. China is the world’s largest carbon polluter, with the U.S. second.

The U.S. emissions target has been eagerly awaited by all sides of the climate debate. It will signal how aggressively Biden wants to move on global warming, a divisive and expensive issue that has riled Republicans to complain about job-killing government overreach even as some on the left worry Biden has not gone far enough to address a profound threat to the planet.

Administration officials promised significant announcements on emissions cuts but would not confirm the U.S. goal before the summit.

The European Union on Wednesday reached a tentative deal intended to make the 27-nation bloc carbon-neutral by 2050. The agreement commits the EU to an intermediate target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.

Biden has sought to ensure that his 2030 goal, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution, or NDC, is aggressive enough to have a tangible impact on climate change efforts — not only in the U.S. but throughout the world — while also being achievable under a closely divided Congress.

Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050

The climate target is a key requirement of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which Biden rejoined on his first day in office. It’s also an important marker as Biden moves toward his ultimate goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Scientists, environmental groups and even business leaders had called on Biden to set a target that would cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030.

“Wow. That’s ambition with a capital A,” Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb said Tuesday after learning of Biden’s plans. “That target would put us roughly in line with the most ambitious emissions reductions targets” projected by scientists and environmentalists.

Cobb, like other experts, said details of Biden’s strategy will be crucial, “because those details will likely determine whether this ambitious new goal can be translated into policy. The clock is ticking fast, environmentally and politically.”

Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann said the 50% goal “is precisely what is needed … an actionable goal within the next decade that puts us on the path toward limiting warming below a catastrophic 1.5 degrees Celsius” globally.

Climate Change a Centerpiece of Biden’s Presidency

The climate summit that Biden is hosting is among his first international actions since the United States officially returned to the Paris accord. The U.S. withdrawal from the global pact under former President Donald Trump was part of Trump’s effort to step away from global allegiances in general and his oft-stated but false view that global warming was a hoax or at least an overstated claim by the world’s scientists.

Biden has made action on climate change a centerpiece of his presidency. He has also paused new oil and gas drilling on federal lands and proposed a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan that would remake the U.S. power grid and add 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles, among other actions intended to sharply cut fossil fuel pollution that contributes to global warming.

The summit is “the starting gun for climate diplomacy” after a four-year “hiatus” under Trump, said Kate Larsen, a former White House adviser who helped develop President Barack Obama’s climate action plan. She is now a director at the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry, Biden’s top climate envoy, has been pressing global leaders, including his counterpart in China, for commitments and alliances on climate efforts.

The U.S. Must be a ‘Global Leader in Climate Action’

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who reintroduced the Green New Deal on Tuesday with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the 50% target was appropriate to meet the scope and scale of the climate crisis.

“The United States must be an undeniable global leader in climate action,” Markey said. “We cannot preach temperance from a barstool and not pay our fair share when approximately 40% of all the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is red, white and blue.”

A 50% reduction by 2030 is “technically feasible and well within our reach,” Markey added. “We can and should fight to pass legislation and deploy funding that will allow us to exceed that target.”

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Biden’s pledge would set “punishing targets” for the U.S. even as adversaries such as China and Russia “continue to increase emissions at will. The last thing the economy needs is higher energy prices and fewer jobs, but that’s exactly what we’re going to get.”

On the other end of the political spectrum, the Center for Biological Diversity, a leading environmental group, said the 50% cut “simply isn’t big enough to meet the massive scale of the climate emergency.”

Like other nations, the U.S. goal includes methane and some hydrofluorocarbon gases that trap more heat but don’t last as long as carbon dioxide.

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

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

DON'T MISS

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

DON'T MISS

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

DON'T MISS

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

DON'T MISS

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

DON'T MISS

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

DON'T MISS

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

DON'T MISS

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

DON'T MISS

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

UP NEXT

US Justice Department to Probe Hiring Practices at University of California

UP NEXT

Newsom and Legislature Tangle With Construction Unions Over Minimum Wage

UP NEXT

Tesla Executive, Elon Musk Confidant Leaves EV Maker, Bloomberg News Reports

UP NEXT

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Orders CA to Strip Trans Athlete of Medals

UP NEXT

SoCal Vice Mayor Urges Street Gang ‘Cholos’ to Rise Up Against ICE

UP NEXT

How a Birthday Boat Ride on Lake Tahoe Turned Tragic

UP NEXT

Cuomo Concedes to Mamdani in New York City Democratic Mayoral Contest

UP NEXT

Mamdani Holds Lead Over Cuomo in Democratic Primary for NYC Mayor

UP NEXT

Suspect in Bombing at California Fertility Clinic Dies in Federal Custody

Alleged ‘Fake’ ICE Agents Charged. Fresno Court Date Set

2 hours ago

In Win for Trump, US Supreme Court Limits Judges’ Power to Block Birthright Citizenship Order

2 hours ago

California’s Newsom Sues Fox News for $787 Million for Defamation Over Trump Call

2 hours ago

Motorcycle Collides With Tractor in Fatal Fresno County Collision

2 hours ago

Ringo Is Ready to Rock Your World With ‘Pawsitive’ Vibes!

2 hours ago

Calwa Park Sitting on $7.4M in Grants. Where is New Pool, Other Upgrades?

4 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Teisha Zonnette Thomas

4 hours ago

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

5 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

19 hours ago

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

20 hours ago

US Supreme Court Preserves Key Element of Obamacare

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday preserved a key element of the Obamacare law that helps guarantee that health insurers cover p...

34 minutes ago

Obamacare Sign in San Ysidro, California
34 minutes ago

US Supreme Court Preserves Key Element of Obamacare

Pride Flags Fly in New York
1 hour ago

US Supreme Court Lets Parents Take Kids Out of Classes With LGBT Storybooks

2 hours ago

Fresno Unified Trustees Will Get Automatic Raises on Tuesday

2 hours ago

Alleged ‘Fake’ ICE Agents Charged. Fresno Court Date Set

Olga Urbina carries baby Ares Webster as demonstrators rally on the day the Supreme Court justices hear oral arguments over U.S. President Donald Trump's bid to broadly enforce his executive order to restrict automatic birthright citizenship, during a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 15, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

In Win for Trump, US Supreme Court Limits Judges’ Power to Block Birthright Citizenship Order

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks to the press after a hearing on the use of National Guard troops amid federal immigration sweeps, at the California State Supreme Court in San Francisco, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters FIle)
2 hours ago

California’s Newsom Sues Fox News for $787 Million for Defamation Over Trump Call

fresno
2 hours ago

Motorcycle Collides With Tractor in Fatal Fresno County Collision

Ringo Is GV Wire's Adoptable Pet of the Week, June 27, 2025
2 hours ago

Ringo Is Ready to Rock Your World With ‘Pawsitive’ Vibes!

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

Search

Send this to a friend