Many U.S. states are behind on their own climate milestones: report
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[December 08, 2020]
(Reuters) - Many of the U.S. states
with bold commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions are on
track to miss their targets, according to an analysis published on
Tuesday by green group Environmental Defense Fund.
The report bodes poorly for U.S. progress on reducing emissions given
only about half of states have announced ambitious climate goals. But
while they have the ambition, several lack adequate policies to achieve
it, EDF said.
"This analysis sends a clear signal to governors and state lawmakers:
making a climate commitment is only the starting point - not the finish
line," Pam Kiely, senior director of regulatory strategy at EDF, said in
a statement.
Some 25 states have said they will meet the targets of the Paris
Agreement, the global pact to fight climate change that the United
States formally exited last month at the behest of President Donald
Trump.
But those states are projected to reduce their collective emissions by
just 18% by 2025 instead of the 26%-28% the Obama administration pledged
under the 2015 Paris deal.
By 2030, those states will have reduced emissions by 11% from 2010
levels, the report found, below the 45% that the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said is needed to reduce
severe climate risks.
The report derived its conclusions using historical and projected
emissions data from research firm Rhodium Group.
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Vapor is released into the sky at a refinery in Wilmington,
California March 24, 2012./File Photo
It looked only at members of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a group of
states working to reduce emissions in line with the Paris agreement,
as well as Louisiana, which is not part of the alliance but has laid
out similar goals. Those states currently make up about 42% of total
U.S. emissions.
Progress so far varies by region.
New England and the South Atlantic region, for instance, are
projected to meet the 2025 Paris goals. But those in the Mountain
West and Midwest are only projected to meet the targets if the
United States suffers a prolonged economic downturn.
All regions are projected to miss the U.N.'s 2030 target, the report
said.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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