Net-Zero by 2050: How Should We Achieve a Carbon-Free U.S. Economy?

• Pages: 54-55

54 | THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, September/October 2021.

Copyright © 2021, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. www.eli.org.

THE DEBATE

Net-Zero by 2050: How Should We

Achieve a Carbon-Free U.S. Economy?

President Biden has called for the United

States to achieve net-zero greenhouse

gas emissions by 2050, with interim tar-

gets of 50-52 percent reduction by 2030 and

an entirely carbon-free power sector by 2035.

Just two years prior, ELI Press published

  

 a compendium of over a thou-

sand legal options for the United States to

rapidly reduce emissions. This “legal play-

book” outlines many of the actions needed

to achieve the president’s ambitious climate

action goals.

All but eliminating the use of fossil fuels will



from internal combustion engines to electric

motors; heating buildings with electricity rath-

er than oil or gas; slashing industrial emissions;

and eliminating the use of coal and perhaps

natural gas to generate electricity. The de-

mand for electricity would soar while most

existing supplies would be cut. Biden wants to

achieve this transformation in the context of

racial equity and good-paying union jobs. This

is a huge undertaking, requiring excellent gov-

ernance going forward.

While   serves as a useful

starting point for discussions on achieving net-

zero emissions, by no means is it exhaustive.

We invite back one of the book’s editors, Mi-

chael Gerrard, along with three other expert

commentators, to weigh in on Biden’s goals.

We are asking these experts, What policy

mix would be the best at achieving the admin-

istration’s many and diverse goals? What tools

do we have at hand? What tools do we need

to create — and how?

Many policies have been proposed — car-

bon taxes, cap and trade, technology or per-

formance standards, research and develop-

ment, carbon capture and sequestration, pub-

lic works programs, planting forests. There

are no doubt other approaches as well. Which

-

uitably reach a zero-carbon future and achieve

the president’s other climate change goals?