How the US Can Meet its Climate Goals While Delivering Public Health and Economic Benefits

Accelerating Clean Energy Ambition says the Union of Concerned Scientists

From the Report of Steve Clemmer, et al., UCSUSA, November 16, 2023

How the US Can Meet its Climate Goals While Delivering Public Health and Economic Benefits.

A transformative clean energy transition is both feasible and hugely beneficial to the economy, climate, and public health — but will require concerted action. We examined the tremendous opportunities — and challenges — for the United States as it seeks to reduce its heat-trapping emissions in line with science-informed goals.

Specifically, we analyzed four scenarios for changing the US energy system, including two “Net Zero” scenarios for decarbonizing the US economy by 2050, as well as two reference cases with and without the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

By rapidly phasing out fossil fuels and transitioning to clean energy, the United States can meet its climate targets with lower near-term energy costs and only modest long-term costs. We also found enormous economic, health, and climate benefits to transforming the energy system — including more than $800 billion in annual public health savings, and nearly $1.3 trillion in avoided climate damages by 2050.

Downloads

1. Executive summary, 4 pages
2. White paper, 34 pages
3. Technical appendix, 10 pages
4. Supplemental results, options

Citation ~ Clemmer, Steve, Rachel Cleetus, Jeremy Martin, Maria Cecilia Pinto de Moura, Paul Arbaje, Maria Chavez, and Sandra Settler. 2023 Accelerating Clean Energy Ambition: How the United States Can Meet Its Climate Goals While Delivering Public Health and Economic Benefits. Cambridge, MA: Union of Concerned Scientists. https://doi.org/10.47923/2023.15253