Co-op America's 12-Step Plan for Climate Action
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With the movie An Inconvenient Truth drawing record audiences last summer, and groups as diverse as the “Evangelical Climate Initiative” and the Pentagon sounding the alarm on the coming climate catastrophe, our country could be...
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With the movie An Inconvenient Truth drawing record audiences last summer, and groups as diverse as the “Evangelical Climate Initiative” and the Pentagon sounding the alarm on the coming climate catastrophe, our country could be on the cusp of taking real action on a very real danger. But how much action is enough to match the scale of the solution to the scale of the problem? Based on the data — such as rapidly melting polar icecaps — showing that climate change is happening faster than anyone had thought, it is increasingly clear: Baby steps won’t do it. We need a bold action plan that can evaluate corporate, government, community, and household plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – especially carbon emissions -- to levels we can live with. Scientists at the Princeton University’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative (CMI) have taken up this challenge, and propose stabilizing carbon emissions by dividing this huge task into smaller, doable action “wedges” of equal size—each with the capacity to reduce carbon emissions by 1 billion tons/year by 2054. CMI lists 15 possible “wedges,” out of which we need to achieve just seven to reach carbon stabilization. Here at Co-op America, we added our own filters to this building-block approach. We screened out measures that are too dangerous, costly, and slow (like nuclear power plants, synfuels, and “clean” coal), and we beefed up those that are safe and cost-effective. (Wind energy is cost-competitive at utility scale, and has beaten natural gas in certain markets. Solar energy will be cost-competitive within five years.) With these filters, we developed a plan that uses current technologies; is safe, clean, and cost-effective; and is big enough to meet the climate challenge—12 “wedges” when we only need seven. Each of the following could reduce carbon emissions by at least 1 billion tons per year by 2054:
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Highlights:
Here’s our 12-step plan: 1. Increase fuel economy for the world’s 2 billion cars from an average of 30 mpg to 60 mpg. 2. Cut back on driving. Decrease car travel for 2 billion 30-mpg cars from 10,000 to 5,000 miles per year,...
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