A new report from environmentalists urges tighter emission cuts as well as a carbon tax to fight climate change beyond 2025.
The report, issued Wednesday by the World Resources Institute, includes a 10-point plan to meet, or exceed, President Obama’s plan to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. Most scientists say the emissions are causing the Earth’s climate to warm, leading to more severe weather, droughts and flooding.
The president’s 2025 goals were outlined in a plan the administration sent to the United Nations in preparation for a major climate conference in Paris at the end of the year, at which large developed nations and emerging economies will try to reach a global plan to cut emissions.
The top recommendation in the environmental group’s plan advises the administration to “strengthen” the emission reduction targets for states under the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s existing power plants.
The rules, known as the Clean Power Plan, are the centerpiece of the president’s agenda to meet the 2025 goal he presented to the U.N.
The EPA rules face strident opposition both from the Republican majority in Congress and from governors’ offices and state attorneys general. The plan is being challenged by 14 states in federal appeals court, with many more lawsuits expected after the agency finalizes the rules this summer.
The rules are contentious because, rather than setting emission reductions for individual power plants, the EPA seeks to manage cuts from each state. Opponents argue that exceeds the limits of the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act.
Nevertheless, the environmental group wants to see the emission targets ratcheted up to drive the nation closer toward the president’s emission goals.
“The power sector is responsible for one-third of U.S. emissions and represents the largest source of potential reductions in the near term,” according to the report. “While EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan is critical to achieving the 2025 goal, going beyond the proposal would make it easier for the country to achieve or surpass its climate targets.”
The institute suggests the EPA “could set tighter emissions standards for states’ power sectors that take into account the full range of cost-effective renewable energy and efficiency resources available.” The group says states could comply with tighter regulation “by expanding their renewable energy standards and energy-efficiency savings targets.” It says the policies have already reduced consumer energy bills, while creating new jobs.
The report also recommends other measures to meet or exceed the president’s goal, including: methane emission reductions, increasing vehicle fuel efficiency, establishing carbon sinks, regulating the emissions from aircraft, and improved industrial efficiency.
But at the end of the report the institute produces a caveat, which says that even with many of the changes it is recommending, most of the emission reductions will not be enough past 2025 to respond effectively to global warming. To further reduce the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, the principal driver of manmade global warming, Congress will be required to pass an economy-wide price on carbon.
“The 2025 climate goal is important for shifting the U.S. emissions trajectory in the right direction, but we can’t stop there,” the report explains. “We’ll need even deeper reductions domestically and globally in the longer term to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.”
“Congress will eventually need to pass new legislation, and it should include putting a price on carbon,” the report says. The group found that the country could cut emissions by 40-42 percent below 2005 levels in 2030, and over 50 percent by 2040 by putting a price on carbon “while still growing the economy.”
The group says placing a price on carbon “may not lead to higher electricity bills” if it is coupled with strong efficiency measures such as those outlined within the report’s 10 recommendations.
“In fact, we found that monthly household electricity bills could decrease by 8-10 percent below projected levels in 2030 and 11 percent in 2040,” the report said.
