(President Obama announcing his new Climate Action Plan. Source: obama_energy.jpg)
In June of 2013, President Obama released his Climate Action Plan outlining his intentions for slowing down the current trends of climate change. Although this plan had more than thirty ideas, three stuck out to me in particular: Cutting carbon emissions from power plants, increasing fuel economy standards, and preserving the role of forests in mitigating climate change.
According to the Climate Action Plan, “Power plants are the largest concentrated source of emissions in the United States, together accounting for roughly one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions.” Because these plants are such a major contributor to our country’s emissions, it is important for our government to determine which emitted chemicals are most dangerous for our climate, and then act to restrict those. In 2013, mercury, arsenic, and lead emissions were all limited, but carbon pollution from power plants was completely unrestricted. At the state level, more than half the country had renewable energy targets in place, and exactly half of the country had set energy efficiency targets. These kinds of numbers prove that people care about pollutants and energy sources. In this Climate Action Plan, the White House promises to modernize the power plants so that their emissions are cleaner as well as continue to expand into clean energy sources like efficient natural gas and renewables. Specifically, the White House promises to assign the EPA to the task of creating carbon pollution standards for all power plants, something that had worked in the past with fuel emissions and the standards the EPA had created there.
In 2013, heavy-duty vehicles were the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the transportation sector. The Obama administration had already shown that auto-emissions was an issue they considered a priority; in 2011 they set the first ever fuel economy standards for the larger vehicles that emit more pollutants. Because of these standards, it was projected that greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by approximately 270 million metric tons and 530 million barrels of oil would be saved. And with passenger cars, this administration has already set the strictest standards in the U.S. to date. From the Climate Action Plan: “These standards require an average performance equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, which will save the average driver more than $8,000 in fuel costs over the lifetime of the vehicle and eliminate six billion metric tons of carbon pollution – more than the United States emits in an entire year.”
In terms of steps to help remove some of the pollutants already in the air, there is a major source of help the government is looking to preserve: trees. According to the Climate Action plan, American forests remover 12% of the greenhouse gases released every year. This capacity to remove these gases is fragile, however, because of wildfires and deforestation, to name a few causes. The Obama Administration explains that they will continue to look into new ways to protect and restore forests as well as grasslands and marshes and other fragile ecosystems.