President Joe Biden is pledging to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035 as he fights to ensure his legacy on slowing global warming, even as President-elect Donald Trump vows to undo much of Biden’s climate work when he takes office next month.
Biden said the new goal — which supersedes a previous plan to cut carbon emissions at least in half by 2030 — keeps the United States on track to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2050. The U.S. is making a formal submission of the new target, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution, to the United Nations under terms of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Biden said Thursday.
The new goal calls for reducing net emissions by 61% to 66% below 2005 levels in 2035.
“I’m proud that my administration is carrying out the boldest climate agenda in American history,” Biden said in a videotaped statement.
“We’re doing it by setting ambitious goals” such as deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind and conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, Biden said. His administration also has set strict new standards to cut air pollution from cars, trucks and power plants and signed into law the most significant investments in climate and clean energy in U.S. history, he said.
The action by the Democratic president comes just over a month before he is set to leave office. Trump has already promised to unleash a series of executive actions that will seek to undo most or all of Biden’s climate agenda as the Republican president-elect pushes for “energy dominance” around the globe.
Trump no longer dismisses climate change as a “hoax” but has pledged to dismantle what he calls Democrats’ “green new scam” in favor of boosting production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, the main causes of climate change. Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, as he did during his first term, and will likely move to repeal parts of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, especially subsidies that benefit electric vehicles and offshore wind.
Biden aides tried to downplay the impact of Trump’s return to the White House, insisting that states and local governments can continue to lead on clean energy.
“American climate leadership is determined by so much more than whoever sits in the Oval Office,” said John Podesta, Biden’s senior adviser for international climate policy.
Climate leadership “happens on the ground in our cities and states, from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, from Boise to Baltimore,” Podesta told reporters Wednesday. “And I believe that with this new 2035 target as their North Star, leaders across America can show the world that we are still in this fight for a better future.”
Podesta disputed any notion of “wishful thinking,” adding that he is confident “the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States with commitment and passion.”
Biden, in his remarks, called the new goal “ambitious” and said it would lead to thousands of well-paying jobs, more affordable energy, cleaner air, cleaner water and a healthier environment for all Americans.
“It is also creating real momentum because we’re unleashing American ingenuity and innovation. And together, we will turn this existential threat into a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our nation” for decades to come, Biden said. “I know we can do this.”
The proposal would require sustained changes across the economy, from power generation to transportation, buildings, agriculture and industry, including significant increases in renewable energy such as wind and solar power and steep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and coal.
The U.S. pledge includes methane reductions of at least 35% from 2005 levels by 2035, Biden said. Cutting methane emissions is among the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming and is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The nonbinding but symbolically important pledge is a key part of the Paris agreement, which calls for countries to submit so-called Nationally Determined Contributions every five years. A country’s NDC, or climate goal, outlines how it plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help meet the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times.
The Paris Agreement requires that NDCs are updated every five years with increasingly higher ambition, taking into consideration each country’s capacity. The next deadline is February 2025, although Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates have already submitted their proposed NDCs.
