Delivering on the U.S. Climate Commitment: A 10-Point Plan Toward a Low-Carbon Future

The United States can meet its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26–28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 through a combination of existing federal laws and state actions. The report proposes a 10-point action plan focusing on the power sector, energy efficiency, HFCs, and methane reduction. For deeper reductions beyond 2025, the authors argue that new legislation, such as a carbon price, could reduce emissions by 40–42 percent by 2030 and 50–53 percent by 2040 without sacrificing robust economic growth.

• The United States can meet or exceed its target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 26–28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 using existing federal laws and state action.
• The power sector is the most significant opportunity for near-term abatement, potentially accounting for up to 49 percent of total reductions in 2025 and 44 percent in 2030.
• Reducing hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions represents the second largest abatement opportunity, contributing at least 16 percent of reductions in 2025 and 18 percent in 2030.
• Industrial energy efficiency and fuel switching constitute the third largest near-term abatement opportunity, accounting for approximately 11 percent of reductions in 2025 and 2030.
• Methane emissions from natural gas systems can be reduced by 67 percent below Reference Case projections using existing technologies with a payback period of three years or less.
• The report identifies a 10-point action plan to meet 2025 targets, including strengthening the Clean Power Plan, scaling up residential and commercial energy efficiency, and establishing standards for new aircraft.
• New federal legislation, such as a carbon tax or cap-and-trade program, could reduce U.S. GHG emissions by 40–42 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and 50–53 percent by 2040.
• Long-term low-carbon transitions can be pursued in parallel with robust economic growth, with GDP in 2030 projected to be only 0.7 percent lower than Reference Case levels.
• Energy efficiency policies in low-carbon pathways are projected to lower average monthly household energy bills by 5–10 percent in 2030 and 9–13 percent in 2040 compared to the Reference Case.
• The transition to a low-carbon economy is expected to have little long-term impact on net employment, though it will cause shifts between sectors, such as growth in renewable energy and decline in coal production.

APA

Hausker, K., Meek, K., Gasper, R., Aden, N., & Obeiter, M. (2015). Delivering on the U.S. Climate Commitment: A 10-Point Plan Toward a Low-Carbon Future. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI15_WorkingPaper_post-2020_0.pdf

Chicago

Hausker, Karl, Kristin Meek, Rebecca Gasper, Nate Aden, and Michael Obeiter. Delivering on the U.S. Climate Commitment: A 10-Point Plan Toward a Low-Carbon Future. World Resources Institute, 2015. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI15_WorkingPaper_post-2020_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{hausker2015delivering, author = {Hausker, Karl and Meek, Kristin and Gasper, Rebecca and Aden, Nate and Obeiter, Michael}, title = {{Delivering on the U.S. Climate Commitment: A 10-Point Plan Toward a Low-Carbon Future}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2015}, month = jun, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI15_WorkingPaper_post-2020_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }