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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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Making Fossil Fuels Pay for Their Damage

Legal Planet

Production and combustion of fossil fuels imposes enormous costs on society, which the industry doesn’t pay for. One option, a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, gets the most attention but seems politically impossible. A more promising alternative might be a clean-up tax on the fossil fuel industry.

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Using the Debt Ceiling to Advance Fossil Fuels Over Renewables is Bad Faith Bargaining

Union of Concerned Scientists

Alarmingly, this proposed legislation would abandon recent investments in renewable energy while boosting fossil fuel production, alongside other potentially harmful provisions. Existing legal, tax, and regulatory systems already give an unfair advantage to fossil fuel production. Late last month, the House passed H.R.

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Disinformation Alert: Fossil Fuel Interests Preparing to Deploy False Claims about New EPA Rules

Union of Concerned Scientists

Fossil fuel power plant owners are facing increased accountability for their air and water pollution, including from a new round of environmental and public health protections that are being rolled out by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We’ve heard these lazily disingenuous narratives before.

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Investors Need to Know the Full Scope of Corporate Carbon Emissions

Union of Concerned Scientists

They’re called Scope 3 emissions, and they are key to understanding the big picture of a company’s impact on the environment. First, let me explain the three “scopes” of carbon emissions. Scope 1 emissions come from power plants, oil rigs and other sources directly owned or controlled by a company.

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Yes, Climate Change Worsened that Heatwave, Flood, Wildfire. Yes, Fossil Fuels are the Root Cause. Policymakers, Please Act and Stop the Madness.

Union of Concerned Scientists

Quickly and sharply tapering down the use of fossil fuels, which are the main driver of human-caused climate change, is just as crucial if we are to have any chance of keeping climate extremes from spiraling further out of control. We must also demand that fossil fuel companies be held accountable for the harms they are causing.

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In the Race for Clean Energy, the United States is Both a Leader and a Laggard—Here’s How

Union of Concerned Scientists

Announcing recently that the world broke a record by generating 30 percent of all electricity from renewable sources in 2023, the British think tank Ember said the data proves we are in a “new era” of energy in which a permanent decline in fossil fuels is “inevitable.” More on that shortly. But first, the undeniably good news.