“Obviously, it would help us if we had a majority on the US Supreme Court that would understand the gravity of the situation and try to help us rather than, one way or another, put obstacles in our way,” the expert added. US President Joe Biden’s climate advisor.
The US government is determined to achieve the goals it has set for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, despite the recent unfavorable decision of the Supreme Court, John Kerry assured AFP yesterday. , US President Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate.
“We are determined to achieve our goals. We can achieve them,” he said, referring to Washington’s official pledges, the day after the overwhelmingly conservative Supreme Court ruling severely curtailed federal powers in the fight against climate change.
“Obviously, it would help us if we had a majority on the US Supreme Court that would understand the gravity of the situation and try to help us rather than, one way or another, put obstacles in our way,” added the commissioner. , former foreign minister.
President Joe Biden, who brought the US back into the Paris climate accord from which his predecessor Donald Trump had withdrawn, announced in April 2021 that his country would reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 to 52% by 2030 compared to 2005.
He submitted these new commitments to the UN in order to bring the country closer to the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement, which was negotiated by Mr Kerry, then head of US diplomacy under Barack Obama.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cannot issue blanket regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, which account for nearly 20 % in the US energy mix.
“I’m convinced — and our legal advisers are going to look at it very carefully — that this decision leaves us enough room to maneuver to do what we need to do” to prevent climate change, Mr. Kerry explained in the interview at the French Agency.
“No one, not the banks, not the private lenders, is going to finance new coal-burning power plants in the US,” he stressed. “Coal is the worst fossil fuel in the world,” added the US special envoy.
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