Earth Day marks one year since President Biden proclaimed that the United States will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% by the end of the decade. “This is the decade that we must make decisions to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis,” the president said last Earth Day.
Hitting that benchmark would keep the U.S. on track to zero out emissions by 2050. If the rest of the world can reach similar targets, humanity stands a chance of containing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Keeping under that threshold, scientists say, will allow us to manage and adapt to the changes in our climate that are happening.
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that without mitigation to bring down heat-trapping emissions, adaptation will be difficult. “There has been the assumption that, ‘Well, if we cannot control climate change, we’ll just let it go and adapt to it,’” said Hans-Otto Pörtner, a marine biologist in Germany who helped coordinate the report. “This is certainly a very illusionary approach.”
The impact of climate change has already been felt in Georgia. In 2018, Hurricane Michael, a storm strengthened by unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, tore through the state, causing $2.5 billion in damage. Losses in pecan crops totaled $560 million.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
Transitioning to cleaner technologies to limit the effects of climate change will also present economic opportunities in Georgia, like increased demand for electric vehicles that will be manufactured by Rivian just east of Atlanta. Demand for solar panels will also soar, with more jobs as a result. In Dalton, Hanwha Q CELLS opened a plant employing 650 workers. Another solar cell plant is planned for southwest Georgia that will hire 500 people.
To preserve a livable world, emissions must come down to net zero by mid-century. To do so, we must drastically curtail — and eventually phase out — the burning of coal, oil and gas.
In addition to reducing climate change impact, ending our dependence on fossil fuels will improve our national security. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is financed by the sale of oil and gas, and banning imports from Russia has contributed to the recent spike in gasoline prices. While some have called for more drilling to counter the threat from petro-state tyrants like Vladimir Putin, this is a false solution. Fossil fuel prices will always be volatile because of factors beyond our control. True energy independence will only come when we transition completely to clean energy and transportation, which Americans have been saying clearly to Congress and the President in recent weeks.
Making this transition requires policies and big investments at the national level. With the great momentum in this Congress to enact such legislation, we can’t let this moment pass without getting major policy across the finish line.
Last fall, the U.S. House passed the Build Back Better Act, which contained $555 billion in spending over a 10-year period to facilitate lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Over in the Senate, serious consideration was given to including a price on carbon as the upper chamber’s version of Build Back Better was coming together. But that legislation, which was on track to pass through budget reconciliation in the Senate, was shelved over objections from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va.
Manchin, however, recently indicated a willingness to negotiate a reconciliation bill that contains climate provisions, saying he hoped a bill could be worked out by the end of May.
The climate provisions from Build Back Better are absolutely essential to get through Congress — and still, we will need to do more to meet Biden’s pledge. Hitting that goal will require a price on carbon, which would actually benefit people economically if revenue is given to households. A new study from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that Build Back Better provisions would result in emissions reductions of 34%, relative to 2005, by 2030. Adding a $40 carbon tax would result in 44% emissions reductions, closing that gap considerably.
The “carbon cashback” provision would put money into the pockets of low- and middle-income Americans at a time when higher energy costs are squeezing household budgets. For some, it could provide funds used for energy efficiency improvements and swapping out gas-burning appliances for electric ones like heat pumps.
With a price on carbon, the United States could also impose a carbon border adjustment, a tax on certain imports from nations that aren’t doing their fair share to reduce carbon emissions. This would maintain a level playing field for American businesses and motivate other countries to increase their climate ambition. Europe plans to impose such a border adjustment, and unless the U.S. prices carbon, American firms will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
Now is the time for bold action on climate change. Congress must come through with legislation that backs up President Biden’s Earth Day pledge to reduce U.S. emissions and restore America’s leadership in the challenge to preserve a livable world.
Madeleine Para is executive director for Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a national organization advocating for federal policies to address climate change that has 14 chapters in Georgia.
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