President Joe Biden will strengthen the United States’ climate target Thursday by announcing a goal of cutting planet-warming pollution 61-66 percent in 2035.
The move will likely be jettisoned by President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to unwind Biden’s climate agenda.
The new target marks an increase from Biden’s earlier pledge to slash greenhouse gases 50-52 percent by 2030 over 2005 levels, but it’s slightly lower than what some climate modelers say would have been possible if Biden’s environmental initiatives were not threatened by Trump rollbacks.
The target — known as a nationally determined contribution, or NDC — is required to be submitted by Feb. 10 under the Paris Agreement, a global deal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the postindustrial era. Trump is expected to withdraw from the agreement.
