United States President Barack Obama and his administration outlined on Tuesday their ten-year plan regarding the Greenhouse Gas pollution as they called out on people about the use of clean energy instead of fossil fuels in order to ward off the worst effects of climate change.
According to The Washington Post, documents were filed by the Obama administration to the United Nations (UN) regarding the plan that hopes to lower the carbon emissions of the country to at most 28 percent by 2025. Although the plan is ambitious, White House officials pointed out that these are achievable and that their plans will not affect the country's economic growth.
The plan includes approved proposals in the past in order to reduce Greenhouse Gases such as tougher fuel-economy standards for vehicles and limited carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. Brian Deese, a senior adviser to Obama, said in a statement that the U.S. already have the tools that they need in order to meet the goals of the ten-year plan.
The plan submitted to the UN will also help the U.S. toward deeper emissions reductions for the next decades and not just until 2025. The plan says that they plan to target a continuous pathway until 2050 that will reduce around 80 percent or more carbon emissions if followed strictly.
Back in November, around 30 countries pledged to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to reduce carbon pollution. China, the European Union (EU), and Mexico are three of the countries that pledged to commit in reducing such pollution.
However, according to Politico, Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky shared that the proposal by the Obama administration is not attainable because at least two-thirds of the U.S. federal government has not yet signed the Clean Power Plan and around 13 states in the country pledged not to approve it.
McConnell then warned international partners to be cautious with their decision to bind with the Obama administration regarding the deal passed to the UN.