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Pages 1-14

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From page 1...
... We offer specific recommendations in cases where research clearly shows that certain strategies and policy options are particularly effective; but in other cases, we simply discuss the range of possible choices available to decision makers. On the broadest level, we conclude that the United States needs the following: • Prompt and sustained strategies to reduce GHG emissions.
From page 2...
... climate policy choices, it useful to set goals that are consistent with those in widespread international use, both for policy development and for making quantitative assessments of alternative strategies. Global temperature and GHG concentration targets are needed to help guide longterm global action.
From page 3...
... emission-reduction effort is warranted.) As illustrated in Figure S.1, meeting an emissions budget in the range suggested above, especially the more stringent budget of 170 Gt CO2-eq, will require a major departure from business-as-usual emission trends (in which U.S.
From page 4...
... GHG emissions are in the form of CO2 from combustion of fossil fuels. As illustrated in Figure S.2, there is a range of different opportunities to reduce emissions from the energy system, including reducing demand for goods and services requiring energy, improving the efficiency with which the energy is used to provide these goods and services, and reducing the carbon intensity of this energy supply (e.g., replacing fossil fuels with renewables or nuclear power, or employing carbon capture and storage)
From page 5...
... policy makers: • Adopt a mechanism for setting an economy-wide carbon-pricing system. • Complement the carbon price with a portfolio of policies to realize the practical potential for near-term emissions reductions through o energy efficiency and low-emission energy sources in the electric and transportation sectors; o stablish the technical and economic feasibility of carbon capture and e storage and new-generation nuclear technologies; and o accelerate the retirement, retrofitting, or replacement of GHG emission-in tensive infrastructure.
From page 6...
... . A carbon pricing strategy is a critical foundation of the policy portfolio for limiting future climate change.
From page 7...
... . Note, however, that using international offsets as a way to meet the domestic GHG emissions budget could ultimately create a more onerous emissions-reduction burden for the countries  Emissions leakage refers to the phenomenon whereby controlling emissions within one region or sector causes activity and resulting emissions to shift to another, uncontrolled region or sector.
From page 8...
... • Increase the use of low-GHG-emitting electricity generation options, including the following: o Accelerate the use of renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources offer both near-term opportunities for GHG emissions reduction and po tential long-term opportunities to meet global energy demand.
From page 9...
... Although such plants have a large potential to reduce GHG emissions, the risks of nuclear power such as waste disposal and security and proliferation issues remain signifi cant concerns and must be successfully resolved. o Develop and demonstrate power plants equipped with carbon capture and storage technology.
From page 10...
... Some key strategies to consider include the following: • structuring policies to offset adverse impacts to low-income and other dis advantaged households (for instance, structuring carbon pricing policies to provide relief from higher energy prices to low-income households) ; • designing incentive-based climate change limiting policies to be accessible to poor households (such as graduated subsidies for home heating or insulation improvements)
From page 11...
... emissions reductions will not, by themselves, substantially alter the rate of climate change. Although the United States is responsible for the largest share of historic contributions to global GHG concentrations, all major emitters must ultimately reduce emissions substantially.
From page 12...
... Many federal policies to limit climate change will need ongoing cooperation of states and localities in order to be successfully implemented -- including, for example, energy-efficiency programs, which are run by localities or state-level programs, and energy-efficiency building standards, which are sometimes enacted statewide and implemented by local authorities. Moreover, states have regulatory capacity (for example, in regulating energy supply and implementing building standards)
From page 13...
... that have taken early action to limit GHG emissions, avoid preempting state and local authority to regulate GHG emissions more stringently than federal law without a strong policy justification, and ensure that subnational jurisdictions have sufficient resources to implement and enforce programs mandated by Congress. Design policies that balance durability and consistency with flexibility and capacity for modification as we learn from experience (see Chapter 8)


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