Joseph J. Romm is an American researcher,author,editor,physicist and climate expert,who advocates reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming and increasing energy security through energy efficiency and green energy technologies. Romm is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2009,Rolling Stone magazine named Romm to its list of "100 People Who Are Changing America",and Time magazine named him one of its "Heroes of the Environment (2009)",calling him "The Web's most influential climate-change blogger".
The energy policy of the United Kingdom refers to the United Kingdom's efforts towards reducing energy intensity,reducing energy poverty,and maintaining energy supply reliability. The United Kingdom has had success in this,though energy intensity remains high. There is an ambitious goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in future years,but it is unclear whether the programmes in place are sufficient to achieve this objective. Regarding energy self-sufficiency,UK policy does not address this issue,other than to concede historic energy security is currently ceasing to exist.
The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006,or Assembly Bill (AB) 32,is a California state law that fights global warming by establishing a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources throughout the state. AB32 was co-authored by Assemblymember Fran Pavley and Speaker of the California Assembly Fabian Nunez and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 27,2006.
Carbon pricing is a method for governments to mitigate climate change,in which a monetary cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions. This is done to encourage polluters to reduce fossil fuel combustion,the main driver of climate change. A carbon price usually takes the form of a carbon tax,or an emissions trading scheme (ETS) that requires firms to purchase allowances to emit. The method is widely agreed to be an efficient policy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon pricing seeks to address the economic problem that emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are a negative externality –a detrimental product that is not charged for by any market.
The United States produced 5.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020,the second largest in the world after greenhouse gas emissions by China and among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person. In 2019 China is estimated to have emitted 27% of world GHG,followed by the United States with 11%,then India with 6.6%. In total the United States has emitted a quarter of world GHG,more than any other country. Annual emissions are over 15 tons per person and,amongst the top eight emitters,is the highest country by greenhouse gas emissions per person.
Carbon emission trading (also called carbon market,emission trading scheme (ETS) or cap and trade) is a type of emissions trading scheme designed for carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). A form of carbon pricing,its purpose is to limit climate change by creating a market with limited allowances for emissions. Carbon emissions trading is a common method that countries use to attempt to meet their pledges under the Paris Agreement,with schemes operational in China,the European Union,and other countries.
The environmental policy of the United States is a federal governmental action to regulate activities that have an environmental impact in the United States. The goal of environmental policy is to protect the environment for future generations while interfering as little as possible with the efficiency of commerce or the liberty of the people and to limit inequity in who is burdened with environmental costs. As his first official act bringing in the 1970s,President Richard Nixon signed the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) into law on New Year's Day,1970. Also in the same year,America began celebrating Earth Day,which has been called "the big bang of U.S. environmental politics,launching the country on a sweeping social learning curve about ecological management never before experienced or attempted in any other nation." NEPA established a comprehensive US national environmental policy and created the requirement to prepare an environmental impact statement for "major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the environment." Author and consultant Charles H. Eccleston has called NEPA the world's "environmental Magna Carta".
New Energy for America was a plan led by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden beginning in 2008 to invest in renewable energy sources,reduce reliance on foreign oil,address global warming issues,and create jobs for Americans. The main objective of the New Energy for America plan was to implement clean energy sources in the United States to switch from nonrenewable resources to renewable resources. The plan led by the Obama Administration aimed to implement short-term solutions to provide immediate relief from pain at the pump,and mid- to- long-term solutions to provide a New Energy for America plan. The goals of the clean energy plan hoped to:invest in renewable technologies that will boost domestic manufacturing and increase homegrown energy,invest in training for workers of clean technologies,strengthen the middle class,and help the economy.
The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law,intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since,it is one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws.
The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) was an energy bill in the 111th United States Congress that would have established a variant of an emissions trading plan similar to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on June 26,2009,by a vote of 219–212. With no prospect of overcoming a threatened Republican filibuster,the bill was never brought to the floor of the Senate for discussion or a vote. The House passage of the bill was the "first time either house of Congress had approved a bill meant to curb the heat-trapping gases scientists have linked to climate change."
A low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) is an emissions trading rule designed to reduce the average carbon intensity of transportation fuels in a given jurisdiction,as compared to conventional petroleum fuels,such as gasoline and diesel. The most common methods for reducing transportation carbon emissions are supplying electricity to electric vehicles,supplying hydrogen fuel to fuel cell vehicles and blending biofuels,such as ethanol,biodiesel,renewable diesel,and renewable natural gas into fossil fuels. The main purpose of a low-carbon fuel standard is to decrease carbon dioxide emissions associated with vehicles powered by various types of internal combustion engines while also considering the entire life cycle,in order to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation.
The climate change policy of the United States has major impacts on global climate change and global climate change mitigation. This is because the United States is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world after China,and is among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person in the world. Cumulatively,the United States has emitted over a trillion metric tons of greenhouse gases,more than any country in the world.
The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A number of governments across the world took a variety of actions.
A carbon fee and dividend or climate income is a system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change. The system imposes a carbon tax on the sale of fossil fuels,and then distributes the revenue of this tax over the entire population as a monthly income or regular payment.
The Clean Power Plan was an Obama administration policy aimed at combating climate change that was first proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June 2014. The final version of the plan was unveiled by President Barack Obama on August 3,2015. Each state was assigned a target for reducing carbon emissions within its borders,which could be accomplished how the states saw fit,but with the possibility of the EPA stepping in if a state refused to submit a plan. If every state met its target,the plan was projected to reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation by 32 percent relative to 2005 levels by 2030,and would have reduced other harmful air pollution as well.
Washington Initiative 732 (I-732) was a ballot initiative in 2016 to levy a carbon tax in the State of Washington,and simultaneously reduce the state sales tax. It was rejected 59.2% to 40.8%. The measure appeared on the November 2016 ballot. The backers of I-732 submitted roughly 350,000 signatures in December 2015 to certify the initiative.
As the most populous state in the United States,California's climate policies influence both global climate change and federal climate policy. In line with the views of climate scientists,the state of California has progressively passed emission-reduction legislation.
The environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration includes a series of laws,regulations,and programs introduced by United States President Joe Biden since he took office in January 2021. Many of the actions taken by the Biden administration reversed the policies of his predecessor,Donald Trump. Biden's climate change policy focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions,similar to the efforts taken by the Obama administration. Biden promised to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030. The main climate target of the Biden administration is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States to net zero by 2050. A climate team was created to lead the effort.
West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency,597 U.S. 697 (2022),is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court relating to the Clean Air Act,and the extent to which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can regulate carbon dioxide emissions related to climate change.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) is a landmark United States federal law which aims to reduce the federal government budget deficit,lower prescription drug prices,and invest in domestic energy production while promoting clean energy. It was passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 16,2022.
