Major U.S. science group lays out a path to smooth the energy transtion

Hundreds of active oil wells sit in densely populated and mostly low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles. A new report details why equity should be central to climate and energy policy in the U.S. to address historical practices.

It’s no big mystery: to slow down human-driven climate change, the U.S. and other countries need to cut carbon emissions fast and thoroughly.

The Biden administration has set the goal of hitting ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050. That means bringing most fossil fuel burning to a near halt by then.

Major climate-focused laws passed in 2021 and 2022, like the Inflation Reduction Act, have put the country on a solid theoretical pathway toward hitting that goal, says a new report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) – but, it warns, the efforts are still nascent and fragile.