by Jbs120809 g3 — December 11, 2009—The United States, long considered slow in addressing global warming as a nation, is poised to achieve significant reductions in global warming pollution thanks to clean energy and climate policies driven by the states, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by Environment America.
America on the Move, released just days before world leaders convened in Copenhagen to negotiate an international agreement on global warming, finds that the U.S. is already on track to reduce its global warming pollution by approximately 536 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent per year by 2020 compared to business as usual. Environment America notes the emission reductions are significant, representing more global warming pollution than is currently emitted annually by all but eight of the world’s nations.
America on the Move quantifies for the first time the reductions in global warming pollution that the United States is set to achieve as a result of state-led actions to advance clean energy and climate policies. The report reviewed more than 100 policies adopted by states, most of them enacted over the past decade, and estimated the emission reductions that will result from those actions. The report combines those reductions with estimations of emissions reductions that can be expected from recent federal programs modeled off of state policies and federal initiatives in which states will have key roles in implementation.
Environment America urges the federal government to require reductions in global warming pollution in the United States consistent with the reductions science says are necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming—specifically, reducing emissions by 35 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and by at least 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050—and urges states to continue to take leadership in adopting and implementing policies to reduce global warming pollution.
