According to two new studies, the US has fallen behind in tackling climate change. A global ranking of countries found the US now ranks 43rd among 180 nations based on its EPI (Environmental Performance Index), and this is a huge plummet as the last time countries were ranked in 2020, the US was in 24th place.
Despite President Joe Biden’s commitments to eliminate enough pollution to keep the world from careening into a much deeper climate crisis, according to a recent paper that was published in the journal Science, the US is far off track from achieving its goals in reducing carbon emissions.
Additionally, the Biden administration has made an effort to phase out gas-powered cars, and Biden signed an executive order last year that aims for half of all new cars to be hybrid or electric vehicles by 2030. However, 70% of new cars sold need to be EVs by 2030 for there to actually be some sort of impact.
While The United States’ greenhouse gas emissions have fallen over time, according to the lead author of the Science article, the pace of greenhouse gas reductions in the US needs to be over three times faster in order to achieve Biden’s proposed 50% reduction in carbon emissions.
And since the US is currently the world’s second-biggest climate polluter after China, the action it takes next is imperative for the entire planet as a whole.
