The Biden administration is readying a plan to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 — nearly double the target the US committed to when it joined the Paris climate accords in 2015, according to a report on Tuesday.
President Biden could unveil the aggressive emissions plan as soon as this week to press countries around the world to follow his lead, the Washington Post reported.
He is hosting a virtual summit of more than three dozen world leaders on Thursday aimed at positioning the US at the forefront of the climate fight and to ramp up worldwide efforts to slow global warming.
Former President Barack Obama pledged to cut emissions between 26 and 28 percent compared to 2005 levels as part of the Paris agreement.
The White House said a final decision on the plan hasn’t been made when asked for comment.
Former President Donald Trump announced in November 2017 that he was pulling the US out of the accord, saying it hurt American businesses.
But Biden rejoined the global pact in February.
“The Biden-Harris administration will do more than any in history to meet our climate crisis,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a speech Monday. “This is already an all-hands-on-deck effort across our government and across our nation. Our future depends on the choices we make today.”
The report said the emissions plan would set in motion sweeping changes for daily life in America, from decarbonizing the energy sector to phasing out gas-powered vehicles.
The president’s nearly $2 trillion infrastructure package includes a number of Green New Deal initiatives, including updating the country’s electric grid with an emphasis on solar power, providing funding for electric vehicles, installing charging stations for electric cars across the country, as well as investing in research and development for projects to offset climate change and create jobs.
The plan faces staunch opposition from Republicans in Congress and could be drastically changed or scaled back.
Administration officials said the trade off for the emissions plan would lead to a massive investment in new environmentally friendly jobs across the nation.
“We’re going to do it in a way that’s very deliberate,” White House domestic climate adviser Gina McCarthy said Monday, adding the proposals are “intended to meet the moment we are in.”
The Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency have also begun work on cutting methane emissions from oil and natural gas drilling, the Washington Post reported, and the EPA is proceeding on plans to reduce the production and importing of hydrofluorocarbons that are widely used in air conditioning by 85 percent over the next 15 years.
Some countries have already set high emissions-cutting targets.
Britain on Tuesday said it will cut them by 78 percent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels.
But China, India and Russia, among the largest greenhouse gas dumpers, have yet to lay out their plans for reducing emissions.