GHG_FinalSummary

This 2010 report by the World Resources Institute (WRI) analyzes the potential for the United States to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through existing federal regulatory authorities and announced state actions through 2030. The study evaluates three levels of regulatory ambition—'Lackluster', 'Middle-of-the-Road', and 'Go-Getter'—across various sectors including power plants, transportation, and industry. It concludes that while existing tools can drive significant reductions, they are insufficient on their own to meet the Obama Administration's Copenhagen pledge or the IPCC's recommended targets for limiting global temperature increases.

• Under the most ambitious 'Go-Getter' scenario, combined federal and state actions could achieve significant GHG reductions, but these would still fall short of the Copenhagen pledge to reduce emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
• All analyzed scenarios, including the most ambitious, indicate that the United States is not on track to meet the reductions suggested by the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report to limit global average temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius by mid-century.
• Key federal regulatory tools for achieving reductions include the Clean Air Act's New Source Performance Standards, mobile source provisions, and the Department of Transportation's authority over vehicle fuel efficiency.
• A significant portion of potential reductions can be achieved through non-energy emissions sources, which the report notes can be accomplished without increasing energy prices.
• The analysis identifies that the U.S. will likely need new congressional action and augmented regulatory tools to reach the 80 to 95 percent emissions reductions needed by 2050 to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
• Projections for reductions after 2020 are characterized by high uncertainty, specifically regarding the speed of transportation sector transformation and the replacement of aging power plants.
• The report excludes certain potential reduction areas from its quantification due to a lack of available literature or data, specifically agricultural and forest lands management and transportation planning.

APA

World Resources Institute (2010). GHG_FinalSummary. http://pdf.wri.org/reducing_ghgs_using_existing_federal_authorities_and_state_action_summary.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. GHG_FinalSummary. 2010. http://pdf.wri.org/reducing_ghgs_using_existing_federal_authorities_and_state_action_summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=GHG_FinalSummary |date=2010 |url=http://pdf.wri.org/reducing_ghgs_using_existing_federal_authorities_and_state_action_summary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2010ghgfinalsummary, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{GHG\_FinalSummary}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2010}, url = {http://pdf.wri.org/reducing_ghgs_using_existing_federal_authorities_and_state_action_summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }