The American revolution

 

At Climate Week NYC 2013, we released a briefing on US greenhouse gas emissions—along with a series of infographics (below) illustrating its key facts. The briefing follows on from last year’s summit, where we made the case that a rapid transition to a clean economy was the only path to long-term prosperity for the United States. We supported our case with five reasons for an American Clean Revolution, including:

1. growing the economy
2. boosting international competitiveness
3. increasing security
4. improving critical infrastructure
5. avoiding the costs associated with more extreme weather.
 

 

And we showed that this view is shared by a diverse cross-section of American society, including military officers, business executives, doctors, farmers, faith leaders and more.

Progress towards this transition has been made in recent years. Since 2005, US greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 7% and US renewable energy capacity has more than doubled.Pioneering climate policies have been adopted at the US state level. And newly proposed greenhouse gas regulations at the federal level promise further reductions in the years to come.

But these actions won’t be enough to meet the US’ long term emission reduction goals. Despite the recent decline, US emissions are set to rise again this year and steadily in the future if further action isn’t taken.

So what actions can be taken in the coming years in order to set the US on the path towards a truly low carbon, resilient society?

This briefing explores this critical question, which is the basis of the discussion among business and government leaders at this year’s Climate Week NYC 2013.

Source www.climategroup.org