A Tennesee Tech. professor says Biden’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 is a lofty goal, but a worthy one.
Dr. Lauren Michel is a paleoclimatologist who teaches about weather, climate and geology. Her research specializes in giving context to climate change today. Michel said the Biden administration is creating policy driven by information from scientists.
“We’re trying to limit the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to limit overall global warming. Will it be hard? Absolutely. Is it achievable? That’s even a good question. Is it necessary? Absolutely,” said Michel.
Michel said the more greenhouse gases get trapped in the atmosphere, the harder it is for the energy heat creates to leave the planet.
“Basically the more greenhouse gases we put in our atmosphere, the warmer the earth is going to get. The more we got up there, the harder it is for heat to get out of our planet. Overall, the warmer the planet gets, the more we see a trend in our average temperatures increasing,” said Michel.
The United States is one of the leading culprits in greenhouse gas emissions, the most coming from transportation use. Michel said there are various ways individuals can cut greenhouse gas emissions, and added that many industries are already making changes for us like providing us with more eco-friendly cars or better electricity.
“At least in Cookeville where I live, we have a lovely town and you can walk around the town more often, and then you would do more in terms of putting less CO2 into the atmosphere. We can think about commuting, and people commuting together, and things like that. But I also think a lot of this really will be industry-driven,” said Michel.
Though the Biden administration’s plan seems like a large undertaking, Michel said their numbers are on par with many other industrialized countries.
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