Smoke rises from the chimney at NRG Energy’s Joliet Station power plant on May 7, 2015 in Joliet, Illinois. According to scientists, global carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have reached a new monthly record of 400 parts per million, levels that haven’t been seen for about two million years. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity is the largest single source of CO2 emissions in the United States, followed by the burning of fossil fuels for transportation. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
All these climate-related emissions goals! It’s hard to keep track sometimes.
The World Resources Institute was out on Wednesday with a new report on how the United States can hit a 2025 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels.
This is the pledge that President Obama has made, outlined in a joint announcement with President Xi Jinping of China last November, then formally submitted to the U.N. this spring ahead of the Paris climate negotiations set for later this year. (The Chinese leader said his country would aim to cap its own emissions increases by 2030.)
This 2025 U.S. target is not to be confused with the Clean Power Plan, which is aimed at a 30 percent cut in GHG emissions by 2030 from the power sector – although WRI thinks the power sector will be the key in the U.S. reaching or surpassing its overall emissions goal, because that’s where the easiest gains can be had.
The proposed Clean Power Plan would reduce power plant CO2 emissions by roughly 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, but our analysis suggests that the United States can achieve even deeper reductions from the power sector—roughly 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Even though there is a short window of time before EPA finalizes the Clean Power Plan in the summer of 2015, the final rule should reflect, to the extent possible, each state’s costeffective renewable and energy efficiency potential. Studies have shown that a more rapid decarbonization of the power sector in the post-2020 time period is possible, as well as legally defensible, especially when considering the declining costs of wind and solar energy. As technological innovation continues and renewable energy costs continue to decline going forward, EPA should revisit these targets periodically (as it is planning to do with its passenger vehicle standards) to ensure that each state’s standard continues to reflect the full scope of opportunities in this sector. – Delivering on the U.S. Climate Commitment: A 10 Point-Plan Toward a Low-Carbon Future
The WRI analysis makes sense in light of the recently released Energy Information Administration forecasting on the Clean Power Plan, which found that CPP would likely bring GHG reductions of 29 to 36 percent in the power sector by 2030, even without inducements like the production tax credit for wind and the current 30 percent investment tax credit for solar.
