Page 12 - aruba-today-20210202

A12 SCIENCE
Tuesday 2 February 2021
Fighting climate change in America means changes to America

By SETH BORENSTEIN of the country’s land and
Climate isn’t the only thing waters, doubling the na-
changing. tion’s offshore wind energy
What comes next in the na- and funding to help com-
tion’s struggle to combat munities become more re-
global warming will prob- silient to climate disasters.
ably transform how Ameri- Republicans and fossil fuel
cans drive, where they get interests objected, calling
their power and other bits the actions job-killers.
of day-to-day life, both qui- “Using the incredible lever-
etly and obviously, experts age of federal government
say. So far the greening of purchases in green elec-
America has been subtle, tricity, zero-emission cars
driven by market forces, and new infrastructure will
technology and voluntary rapidly increase demand
actions. for home-grown climate-
The Biden administration is friendly technologies,” said
about to change that. Rosina Bierbaum, a Univer-
In a flurry of executive ac- sity of Michigan environ-
tions in his first eight days in mental policy professor.
office, the president is trying The next big thing for the
to steer the U.S. economy administration is to come
from one fueled by fossils up with a Paris climate ac-
to one that no longer puts In this Oct. 16. 2019, file photo a driver plugs in the Charge Point electric plug into his Tesla car at cord goal — called Nation-
additional heat-trapping a parking garage in downtown Los Angeles. ally Determined Contribu-
gases into the air by 2050. Associated Press tion — for how much the
The United States is rejoin- United States hopes to cut
ing the international Paris not be noticeable, such But it will still be your car, pumps when it comes time greenhouse gas emissions
climate accord and is also as your power eventually which is why most of the for a new one, said Marga- by 2030. It has to be am-
joining many other nations coming from ever-cheap- big climate action over the ret Torn, a senior science bitious for the president to
in setting an ambitious goal er wind and solar energy next 10 years won’t be too at the Department’s of reach his ultimate goal of
that once seemed unat- instead of coal and natu- noticeable, said Princeton Energy’s Lawrence Berke- net zero carbon emissions
tainable: net-zero carbon ral gas that now provides University ecologist Ste- ley National Lab, who co- by 2050, but it also has to
emissions by midcentury. 59% of American power. phen Pacala. authored a peer-reviewed be doable.
That means lots of changes But when it comes to go- “The single biggest differ- study Wednesday. His administration promises
designed to fight increas- ing from here to there, that ence is that because wind Part of the problem, said to reveal the goal, required
ingly costly climate disas- you’ll notice. and solar is distributed you study co-author Ryan by the climate agreement
ters such as wildfires, floods, General Motors an- will see a lot more of it on Jones, co-founder of but nonbinding, before its
droughts, storms and heat nounced Thursday that as the landscape,” said Paca- Evolved Energy Research, Earth Day climate summit,
waves. of 2035 it hopes to go all- la, who leads a decarbon- is that for years people April 22. That new number
Think of the journey to a electric for its light-duty ve- izing America study by the have wrongly portrayed “is actually the centrally im-
carbon-less economy as hicles, no longer selling gas National Academy of Sci- the battle against climate portant activity of the next
a road trip from Washing- cars. Experts expect most ences that comes out next change as a “personal mo- year,” said University of
ton, D.C., to California that new cars sold in 2030 to be week. rality problem” where in- Maryland environment pro-
started about 15 years ago. electric. The Biden admin- Other recent detailed sci- dividuals have to sacrifice fessor Nate Hultman, who
“We’ve made it through istration promised 550,000 entific studies show that by driving and flying less, worked on the Obama ad-
Ohio and up to the Indi- charging stations to help because of dropping wind, turning down the heat and ministration’s Paris goal.
ana border. But the road with the transition to elec- solar and battery prices, eating less meat. Getting to net zero car-
has been pretty smooth so tric cars. Biden’s net-zero carbon “Actually, climate change bon emissions midcen-
far. It gets rougher ahead,” “You will no longer be go- goal can be accomplished is an industry economy is- tury means about a 43%
said climate scientist Zeke ing to a gas station, but far cheaper than feared in sue where most of the cut from 2005 levels — the
Hausfather, climate and you will need to charge the past and with health big solutions are hap- baseline the U.S. govern-
energy director at the your vehicle whether at benefits “many, many pening under the hood ment uses — by 2030,
Breakthrough Institute. home or on the road,” said times″ outweighing the or upstream of people’s said the Rhodium Group’s
“The Biden administration Kate Larsen, director of in- costs, said Pacala, who homes,” Jones said. “It’s a Larsen. The U.S. can realis-
is both stepping on the gas ternational climate policy was part of one study at big change in how we pro- tically reach a 40% cut by
and working to upgrade research at the Rhodium Princeton. Those studies duce energy and consume 2030, which is about one-
our vehicle,” Hausfather Group. “It may be a whole agree on what needs to energy. It’s not a change in third reduction from what
said. new way of thinking about be done for decarboniza- people’s day-to-day lives 2020 U.S. carbon emissions
The end results of some of transportation for the aver- tion, and what Biden has or it doesn’t need to be.” would have been without
Biden’s new efforts may still age person.” come out with ”is doing the One Biden interim goal — a pandemic, said Williams,
Time Share Resales + Realty things that everyone now is “a carbon pollution-free the San Francisco profes-
concluding that we should power sector by 2035” — sor.
Own or Rent a piece of the Rock do,” Pacala said. may not be doable that All this work on power and
For up to 70 % Off stay @5 Star Resort These are the type of shifts quickly, but can be done vehicles, that’s easy com-
* All inventory available that don’t cost much — by 2050, said study co-au- pared with decarbonizing
Visit our website : about $1 day per person — thor Jim Williams of the Uni- agriculture with high meth-
www.halleyymetravelaruba.com and won’t require people versity of San Francisco. ane emissions from live-
For more info call:(297) 630-1307
For more info call: to abandon their current Biden’s executive orders stock and high-heat indus-
johnnypaesch@gmail.com cars and furnaces, but re- featured plans for an all- trial processes such as steel-
also visit(new): place them with cleaner electric federal fleet of making, Breakthrough’s
www.halleyadventures.com electric vehicles and heat vehicles, conserving 30% Hausfather said.q