(Credit: Pixabay)The United States has released a draft of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a tool showing the progress the country is making regarding climate and sustainability initiatives and designed to give those that make risk management decisions the most up-to-date information.
There is a wealth of information included in the nearly 1,700-page draft and it says that while the US has reduced emissions over the past few years, it needs to do so at a much quicker rate to reach the country’s net-zero goals. Additionally, it outlines that natural events with impacts of more than $1 billion are happening at a significant rate.
The National Climate Assessment is required by Congress to be published every four years and is open for public comment through Jan. 27, 2023. It covers the entire country as well as Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the US-affiliated Pacific Islands.
The report finds that the increased use of renewable energy has helped lower emissions in the country by 12% from 2007 to 2019. However, it says emissions must fall by 6% a year to reach the US net-zero by 2050 goal.
It says deep emissions cuts over this timeframe are achievable with existing technologies and approaches. Faster and more widespread deployment of renewable energy and other low-carbon energy technologies will increase the country’s chances of reaching the net-zero goal.
The Biden Administration has been active in enhancing those efforts, especially through legislation such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes nearly $370 billion toward clean energy programs. Analysis by several organizations finds that programs within the legislation are enough to cut emissions by 40% through 2030 and additional efforts from federal and state governments would be enough to reach Biden’s goal of a 50% reduction by that year.
The report finds 80% of new energy generation capacity in 2020 came from renewable sources. It also says the price of wind and solar installations has dropped 70% and 90%, respectively over the past decade.
Additionally, since 2018 the total number of state-level emissions mitigation programs has increased by 83%, and there have been 169 more cities that have emissions reduction targets. There also has been an increase in renewable energy programs on tribal lands.
Damaging natural events is a specific concern in the assessment. It says in the 1980s the US experienced an event with at least a $1 billion loss once every four months. Currently, those events happen on average every three weeks.
That has created impacts on infrastructure, critical services, and energy resilience. In 2022 there have been 15 such events so far, including multiple heat-related events that have impacted Texas and California, while hurricanes have resulted in significant damage in Florida and Puerto Rico.
The assessment does not recommend specific policy interventions, according to the White House. Rather it is a risk management tool that can help with future decision-making or regulations.
The comment period is free and open to anyone. The final report is expected to be published later in 2023.
