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Ask a Scientist: The US Has to Do More to Meet Its Carbon Emissions Reduction Goals

Union of Concerned Scientists

The legislation committed nearly $400 billion to support, among other things, wind and solar power, battery storage, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies that will make a significant dent in US heat-trapping emissions. It also will save US consumers money because they will spend less on fossil fuels.

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Renewables smash fossil fuels at cost

A Greener Life

New research from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) confirms renewables are continuing to outpace fossil fuels on cost. They found that the share of renewable energy that achieved lower costs than the most competitive fossil fuel option doubled in 2020. C climate pathway.

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Boosting Michigan’s Energy Future with Regional Transmission Upgrades

Union of Concerned Scientists

This much-needed set of 18 projects will improve electricity reliability, address overloaded wires , and help unlock more lower-cost wind and solar power to replace costly, polluting fossil fuel plants in Michigan and many other states in the Midwest (including Illinois and Minnesota ). Source: MISO.

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How Much Battery Storage Does Illinois Need? 

Union of Concerned Scientists

Renewable generation is variable—wind and solar power produce electricity when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining. Among many other provisions, CEJA includes carbon emission limits for coal and fossil gas plants that phase in over several years, starting in 2030.

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Building a Better Power Grid for Minnesota

Union of Concerned Scientists

Minnesotans are facing concurrent crises of climate change, high energy prices and inflation, and the inequitable public health impacts of fossil fuel air pollution. Renewable energy will help with all of that—but we need a grid that is designed for wind and solar instead of having to rely on expensive coal and gas plants.

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The Supreme Court’s Latest Decision Is a Blow to Stopping Climate Change

Union of Concerned Scientists

The majority 6–3 decision sharply curtails the EPA’s authority to set standards based on a broad range of flexible options to cut carbon emissions from the power sector—options such as replacing polluting fossil fuels with cheap and widely available wind and solar power coupled with battery storage.

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EPA’s Power Plant Carbon Rules Are Critical—and Complex. Here’s What to Know, and What to Watch.

Union of Concerned Scientists

Multiple lines of analysis make clear that regardless of how cheap wind and solar power get, without directly addressing pollution from coal and gas plants, the country’s clean energy transition will not happen fast enough. EPA ruling, EPA can still establish rigorous carbon emissions standards.