It's Entirely Possible For The US to Meet Its 2030 Climate Goals. Here's How

The Paris Climate Agreement was renewed by the Biden administration in April. The goal is to cut emissions in half.

The goal isn't a pipe dream. It is more than possible with strong and immediate action according to an analysis of existing climate models.

Energy analysts have shown what initial steps need to be taken to triple the pace of reductions.

The authors argue that green policies should be expanded so that the electricity grid can run on 80 percent clean energy. To meet that pace and scale of change, the US should focus on deploy technologies that are already readily available like solar and wind power, as well as swap over heaters for heat pumps and shoring up the reliability of the electricity grid.

There are ways to expand clean energy by the year 2030. Large storage facilities for solar and wind and carbon capture technology, the latter of which has not been proven to work on the large scales necessary, are suggested.

The US will fall short of its updated climate pledge without government incentives.

"Although such changes have costs, they also have substantial benefits and present opportunities for a more equitable distribution of both, which warrant further investigation," the authors write.

Most of the emission reductions can be achieved through fuel transitions in the US power and transport sectors.

Coal capacity must be reduced by 90 to 100 percent, while wind and solar capacity needs to be increased by 7 to 7 times. Plants will need to be shut down.

The authors warn of the need for a just transition for individuals and communities affected by the decline in coal use.

The US can get 66 percent of the way to its goals in the power sector if it succeeds.

The green energy changes could have a domino effect on the economy.

The transition to electric vehicles will be important. They will need to increase their car sales by more than half.

The goal of the Biden administration is to have 50 percent of EV sales by the year 2030.

The costs will be huge but the benefits will be smaller. The health benefits alone could equal tens of billions of dollars.

The study should give policy makers and other energy stakeholders some level of comfort because it shows that everyone is pointing in the same direction. According to an energy analyst from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the case for clean energy is stronger than before.

We can reduce our emissions and save American consumers billions of dollars with the right policies.

We are aware of what we have to do. We just have to do it.

The study was published in a scientific journal.