[Read the report on Architecture 2030's site or here.]

Introduction

Faced with the daunting crisis of global warming, the U.S. is struggling to find a solution while preserving the energy status quo. This approach will not work. As the following analysis illustrates, a new approach is needed that both avoids dangerous climate change and is advantageous for the U.S. economy. The implementation of the 2030 Blueprint proposed below will dramatically reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and simultaneously provide a much-needed stimulus to the U.S. economy.

According to Dr. James Hansen’s et al. recent paper, titled Target CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?, the bar for acceptable levels of CO2 (the major greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere should be lowered to 350ppm, possibly lower, if we are to avert catastrophic climate change. We are currently at 385ppm and increasing at about 2ppm annually.

Many times, complex problems require the simplest of solutions. One of the most important questions facing those attempting to solve the climate change crisis is, "How do we reduce CO2 emissions dramatically and immediately?" The simplest answer is, "Turn off the coal plants."

Although coal produces about half of the energy supplied by the Electric Power Sector, it is responsible for 81% of this sector’s CO2 emissions. According to Target CO2, if we are to have any chance of averting a climatic catastrophe, we must implement an immediate moratorium on the construction of any new conventional coal-fired power plants and complete a phasing out of all existing conventional coal plants by the year 2030. Anything short of this will fail.

Not surprisingly, because of the many vested interests in the coal industry (existing infrastructure, jobs and large U.S. coal reserves), it is difficult for some to let go of a ‘sure thing,’ even when faced with a planetary crisis. Although the coal industry has offered up ‘clean’ coal, i.e., coal with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), as a fix for the offending CO2 emissions of conventional coal plants, this ‘solution’ cannot be implemented in time to avert dangerous climate change. According to scientists, the world has seven years to reverse its current CO2 trend. The coal industry itself has acknowledged that, if it can be proven possible and economically feasible, implementing CCS technology is 20 years out.

The economic feasibility of any proposed actions regarding climate change is a particularly important consideration in this time of looming recession. Therefore, this study is an investigation not only of the most effective actions that can be taken in addressing climate change, but also of the implications of these actions on the US economy.