Laserfiche WebLink
CONSERVATION GROUPS’ COMMENTS <br />UNCOMPAHGRE FIELD OFFICE RMP AND DEIS <br />11 <br /> With specific regard to United States commitments under the Paris Agreement, the U.S. <br />INDC set specific greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2025 of a 26% to 28% reduction <br />below the 2005 emission levels, producing a range in 2005 net GHG emissions from 6,323 to <br />7,403 MTCO2e.28 The difference between this target and the estimated 2025 emissions without <br />INDC policies results in an ‘emissions gap’ ranging from 896 to 2,121 MTCO2e.29 <br /> <br />Both the IPCC and National Climate Assessment recognize the dominant role of fossil <br />fuels in driving climate change: <br /> <br />While scientists continue to refine projections of the future, observations <br />unequivocally show that climate is changing and that the warming of the past 50 <br />years is primarily due to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases. These <br />emissions come mainly from burning coal, oil, and gas, with additional <br />contributions from forest clearing and some agricultural practices.30 <br /> <br />*** <br /> <br />CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes contributed <br />about 78% to the total GHG emission increase between 1970 and 2010, with a <br />contribution of similar percentage over the 2000–2010 period (high confidence).31 <br /> <br />As summarized in a recent report: <br /> <br />The Paris Agreement aims to help the world avoid the worst effects of climate <br />change and respond to its already substantial impacts. The basic climate science <br />involved is simple: cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over time are the <br />key determinant of how much global warming occurs. This gives us a finite <br />carbon budget of how much may be emitted in total without surpassing dangerous <br />temperature limits.32 <br /> <br />According to the IPCC, as of 2011, the remaining carbon budget of cumulative CO2 emissions from all anthropogenic sources must remain below 1,000 GtCO2 to provide a 66% <br />probability of limiting warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.33 For years 2012-2014, <br /> <br />28 Jeffery Greenblatt & Max Wei, Assessment of the climate commitments and additional <br />mitigation policies of the Unites States, Nature Climate Change (Sept. 2016), available at: <br />http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate3125.html (attached as <br />Exhibit 14). 29 Id. at 2; see also UNEP, Emissions Gap Report (attached as Exhibit 12). 30 Third National Climate Assessment at 2 (attached as Exhibit 6). 31 IPCC AR5 Synthesis Report at 46 (attached as Exhibit 5). 32 The Sky’s Limit at 6 (attached as Exhibit 9). 33 IPCC AR5 Synthesis Report at 63-64 & Table 2.2 (attached as Exhibit 5). For an 80% <br />probability of staying below 2°C, the budget from 2000 is 890 GtCO2, with less than 430 GtCO2 <br />remaining. Malte Meinshausen et al., Greenhouse-gas emission targets for limiting global <br />warming to 2°C, Nature (2009) at 1159 (attached as Exhibit 15).