As expected, Earth Day 2021 has ushered in important and welcome commitments from the White House on climate issues: President Biden has announced a U.S. target of “a 50-52 percent reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030,” and a “goal to reach 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035.” The "Fact Sheet" press release identifies investment “in infrastructure and innovation” as key to this target: “America must lead the critic

Just as we were giving ourselves a pat on the back for reducing carbon emissions during the Covid-19 pandemic, articles published by The Guardian and The New York Times suggest we are poised to take a big step backwards. Predicting that 2021 will see a leap in global carbon dioxide emissions “second only to the massive rebound 10 years ago after the financial crisis,” this is not good news. We need carbon dioxide emission to be cut by 45% by 2030 to cap global heating to 1.5

A recent report from Princeton University Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment—“Net-Zero America – Potential Pathways, Infrastructure, and Impacts”—presents a roadmap of the transitions that are required to achieve net-zero emissions in the United States. The report is the culmination of two years of research, and is part of the net-zero America project. The project aims to map transition scenarios to inform U.S. policy and investment decisions around achieving ne