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US Policy

busy highway traffic

If You Build It, the Cars (and the Pollution) Will Come

Colorado plans to expand highways by almost 200 new lane-miles over the next decade. RMI analysis suggests this could increase driving and pollution at the scale of adding 70,000 more cars to Colorado roads every year, running counter to Colorado’s robust climate and transportation policy goals.   Road Expansion Fails…

girl in front of sunflower field and wind turbine

Democratizing Data

As we enter the spring of 2021, we are already well into the decisive decade. By 2030, the United States needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50–65 percent below 2005 levels to limit climate change to 1.5°C of warming. Fortunately, after four years of a leadership vacuum at…

Getting the Social Cost of Carbon Right

This op-ed was first published on Project Syndicate. Copyright 2021 Project Syndicate. US President Joe Biden deserves congratulations for committing the United States to rejoin global efforts to combat climate change. But America and the world must respond to the challenge efficiently. Here, Biden’s January 20 executive order…

Signs of Hope for US Federal Climate Action in 2021

As we enthusiastically bid 2020 farewell, for many reasons 2021 is starting to feel like a year to be hopeful. While the roll-out of vaccines signal an impending slow-down to the pandemic, recent activity in DC is offering a similar glimpse to solutions on the horizon for the climate crisis.