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Minnesota: Will This Be the Year for a 100-Percent Carbon-Free Electricity Policy?

Union of Concerned Scientists

Now it’s on to the state Senate, where the question is: Will this be the year Minnesota sets a path toward 100-percent carbon-free electricity? Those scenarios showed that the IRA would accelerate solar and wind deployment and reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

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How Much Land Would it Require to Get Most of Our Electricity from Wind and Solar?

Union of Concerned Scientists

Acknowledging that the United States is a leading contributor to carbon emissions, the Biden administration has committed to cutting US emissions 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Examining Supply-Side Options to Achieve 100% Clean Electricity by 2035.) Map courtesy NREL: Denholm et al.

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Ask a Scientist: Two Dozen States Can Meet 100 Percent of Electricity Demand with Renewables by 2035

Union of Concerned Scientists

All told, they represent 56 percent of the US population, generate 62 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, and are responsible for 43 percent of the country’s annual carbon emissions. From 2020 to 2040, solar generation in these states jumps nearly ninefold and wind generation more than sevenfold.

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California’s Climate Leadership: A Timeline

Legal Planet

Required the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) new vehicles. Required state to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and gave broad authority to CARB to implement the standard. Required CARB to create an inventory of GHG emissions. 2006 AB 32. 2015 SB350.

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Climate Policy and the Audacity of Hope

Legal Planet

New California legislation will require corporations to disclose their carbon emissions. Rooftop solar costs in 2020 were a third of what they had been in 2010. In 2020, the cost of single-axis utility scale solar was only a fifth of what it was in 2010. In short, we’re seeing something like a slimmed-down Green New Deal.

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Climate Policy in the World’s Fourth Largest Country

Legal Planet

Over three-fourths of Indonesia electricity comes from fossil fuels: 60% from coal and 16% from gas. Carbon emissions from land use change (mostly logging) are comparable to Brazil’s, though Brazil gets a lot more publicity. Indonesia’s 2021 climate pledge under the Paris Agreement was to reduce emissions from 2020-2030 by 29%.

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Germany’s Role in Climate Policy

Legal Planet

The Federal Cabinet adopts its first climate target, a 25-30% cut in carbon emissions by 2005 under 1987 levels. Note: the estimates of 1990 emissions that I found are not entirely consistent, with one estimate closer to 1.2 Fifteen percent of electricity is renewable. Renewables are a third of electricity consumption.