US coal + climate

While America has signalled its intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, it can’t officially do so until 2020. And with the next US Presidential elections also next year, the country may still choose to rethink the direction of travel being pursued by Trump.

If it does, swapping coal with more sustainable power sources is the game-changing step that could see America ‘fulfill its greenhouse gas emission pledge under the Paris Climate Agreement’, according to research from Portland State University. By all but removing coal as an energy source by 2024, the report claims the country – which along with China is responsible for around 40% of global emissions – would be able to meet the obligations it originally agreed under the Paris accord.

The full research will be published in the March issue of the journal Applied Energy.