MODELING THE CLIMATE CRISIS ACTION PLAN

This report by Energy Innovation models a subset of policy recommendations from the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis's 'Solving the Climate Crisis' action plan. Using the Energy Policy Simulator, the analysis evaluates the potential for these policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate health and climate benefits for the United States through 2050.

• The modeled policy subset could reduce annual United States greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1,700 million metric tonnes (MMT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by 2030. This represents a reduction of 40 percent below 2005 levels and 37 percent below 2010 levels.
• By 2050, the policies are estimated to eliminate over 5,000 MMT of CO2e annually, bringing total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 89 percent below 2005 levels and 88 percent below 2010 levels. Net carbon dioxide emissions are projected to reach zero by 2048.
• The policy package is projected to provide significant health and climate benefits, including the avoidance of 62,000 premature deaths annually by 2050. The total monetized benefits are estimated at approximately $8 trillion (real 2018 U.S. dollars) by 2050 when using a 3 percent discount rate, or roughly $4 trillion at a 7 percent discount rate.
• To achieve net zero emissions by 2050 in the transportation sector, the model assumes a rapid phase-out of internal combustion engines, requiring a 100% zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales standard for light-duty vehicles (LDVs) by 2035 and for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) by 2040.
• The electricity sector modeling includes a clean energy standard (CES) that ramps up to 60% by 2025, 90% by 2034, and reaches 100% clean electricity by 2040. This assumes a maximum annual build-out of 48 GW each for wind and solar.
• Industrial decarbonization is modeled through full fuel switching to electrification and green hydrogen by 2050. This includes a shift in hydrogen production to electrolysis, contrasting with the current U.S. state where roughly 95% of hydrogen is produced via steam reforming of natural gas.
• The model incorporates natural climate solutions, including the reforestation and restoration of forests. By 2040, these policies are estimated to result in 40 million acres of land reforested and 335 million acres under best forest management practices.

APA

MAHAJAN, M., ORVIS, R., & AGGARWAL, S. (2020). MODELING THE CLIMATE CRISIS ACTION PLAN. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Modeling-the-Climate-Crisis-Action-Plan_FOR-RELEASE.pdf

Chicago

MAHAJAN, MEGAN, ROBBIE ORVIS, and SONIA AGGARWAL. MODELING THE CLIMATE CRISIS ACTION PLAN. Energy Innovation, 2020. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Modeling-the-Climate-Crisis-Action-Plan_FOR-RELEASE.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=MAHAJAN |first1=MEGAN |last2=ORVIS |first2=ROBBIE |last3=AGGARWAL |first3=SONIA |title=MODELING THE CLIMATE CRISIS ACTION PLAN |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=June 2020 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Modeling-the-Climate-Crisis-Action-Plan_FOR-RELEASE.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mahajan2020modeling, author = {MAHAJAN, MEGAN and ORVIS, ROBBIE and AGGARWAL, SONIA}, title = {{MODELING THE CLIMATE CRISIS ACTION PLAN}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Modeling-the-Climate-Crisis-Action-Plan_FOR-RELEASE.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }