The most recent IPCC report makes it clear: There is no one silver bullet that can address global warming. Instead, nations, businesses, communities and individuals all have a role to play in helping to create a safer and more sustainable future. But without action from the world’s wealthiest countries, the nations and people who are least at fault for fueling climate change will be the ones who suffer the most, the scientists behind the report warn.
5 Recent Climate Policies That Could Make A Difference
Policy change, while not the only tool, can help spur the kind of large-scale change needed to curb carbon pollution. Here is a compilations of stories to keep you up to date on what governments, communities and individuals are doing to tackle climate change and protect the environment.
Federal funding to make homes more energy efficient
In March, the Biden administration announced plans to spend roughly $3.2 billion to retrofit hundreds of thousands of homes in low-income communities with the aim of slashing Americans’ energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions. The new funding is from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill Biden signed into law last year. Funding from the program can be used to help homeowners switch from traditional gas or oil-burning furnaces and energy-hungry air conditioners to electric heat pumps, which can heat and cool homes at a much lower cost to the environment.
Experts say these changes could ultimately slash the nation’s use of fossil fuels for home heating and electricity generation if they’re made on a large enough scale.
The Defense Department has a vast footprint: It accounts for 56 percent of the federal government’s carbon footprint and 52 percent of its electricity use. In February, the Army released its first climate strategy, an effort to brace the service for a world beset by global-warming-driven conflicts.
The plan aims to slash the Army’s emissions in half by 2030; electrify all noncombat vehicles by 2035 and develop electric combat vehicles by 2050; and train a generation of officers on how to prepare for a hotter, more chaotic world. It is part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to address climate change across government agencies, including at the Pentagon.
A U.S. city decarbonizing every building
In November, the city of Ithaca, N.Y., voted to electrify and decarbonize its buildings. It was the first such initiative of its kind in the country.
The city of about 30,000 people consists of some 6,000 homes and buildings. Decarbonization would involve looking at everything from how a building is heated to what appliances it uses, with the aim of moving away from the consumption of fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas.
Phasing out gas-powered lawn equipment
A ban on gas-powered leaf blowers that was approved in 2018 took effect in Washington, D.C., in December — a delayed implementation that allowed the city and others affected time to switch to more eco-friendly electric leaf blowers or some other alternative. The ban on gas-powered blowers comes with a potential $500 fine for violators, the culmination of a fight that began in 2016 against the notorious polluters, which can be as loud as heavy traffic and cause health problems for people who breathe their fumes.
Better fuel standards for cars coming by 2026
The Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency have finalized tailpipe pollution standards that would require average fuel efficiency of new cars and light trucks to reach 49 miles per gallon in less than four years. Stricter mileage standards can play a critical role in cutting greenhouse gases because the transportation sector ranks as the biggest source of these climate pollutants in the United States. The new rule requires the nation’s automakers to increase fuel efficiency fleetwide by 8 percent starting late next year, another 8 percent the year after and 10 percent for model year 2026.
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