Biden’s climate policy would mean a very different America
La nouvelle politique écologique de Joe Biden.
Il y a quelques semaines, Joe Biden surprenait les dirigeants du monde entier en leur annonçant sa nouvelle politique climatique extrêmement ambitieuse : réduire les émissions de carbone des États-Unis de moitié d'ici 2030. A quoi ressemblerait l'Amérique si cet objectif était atteint ?
In several recent studies, researchers have explored what a future America might look like if it wants to achieve Biden’s new climate goal: cutting the nation’s planetwarming emissions at least 50% below 2005 levels by the year 2030.
2. It’s achievable in theory, researchers say, but it’s an enormous challenge. To get there, the Biden administration would likely need to put in place a vast array of new federal policies, many of which could face obstacles in Congress or the courts.
3. “It’s not an easy task,” said Nathan Hultman, director of the University of Maryland’s Center on Global Sustainability. In a recent study, he and his colleagues modeled a possible road map for achieving at least a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030. The changes required under their scenario would be far-reaching:
WHAT WOULD AMERICA LOOK LIKE?
4. By 2030, half the country’s electricity would need to come from renewable sources such as wind, solar or hydropower, up from one-fifth today. New natural gas plants would largely be built with technology that can capture and bury carbon dioxide, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere — technology that is still in its infancy. And most or all of the 200 remaining coal plants would need to shut down.
5. Two-thirds of new cars and SUVs sold would be battery-powered by decade's end, up from roughly 2% today. All new buildings would be heated by electricity rather than natural gas.
6. The nation’s cement, steel and chemical industries would adopt stringent new energy-efficiency targets. Oil and gas producers would slash emissions of methane, a potent heattrapping gas, by 60%.
7. The nation’s forests would expand, and farming practices would be reworked, so that they pull 20% more carbon dioxide out of the air than they do today.
8. The federal government wouldn’t necessarily act alone. States like California and New York are separately pursuing their own aggressive targets for cutting emissions. Cities across the country are enacting stricter building codes and installing electric vehicle charging stations. Large companies like General Motors or Google have made specific promises to shift to electric vehicles and cleaner energy.
9. “If climate action becomes much more widespread at the state or city or business level, then it’s much more robustly anchored,” said Hultman. “Then these climate goals aren’t just viewed as a numbers game, but as a societal transformation.”
1. to explore ici, étudier, envisager / to look like ressembler à / to achieve ici, atteindre / to cut, cut, cut ici, réduire / planet-warming emissions émissions de gaz à effet de serre (global warming réchauffement climatique) / at least (d')au moins.
2. to get there pour y parvenir / likely probablement / array ici, ensemble, série / policy politique, mesure / to face ici, rencontrer, se heurter à.
3. it's not an easy task ce n'est pas chose facile/aisée, le défi est immense / to model ici, imaginer, concevoir, présenter / road map feuille de route, plan d'action / under ici, d'après / far-reaching important, considérable (aussi, d'une portée considérable).
4. hydropower énergie hydraulique/hydroélectrique / up ici, une hausse / largely principalement, en grande partie, majoritairement / to capture piéger, capter / to bury ensevelir / to release relâcher / to be in its infancy en être à ses balbutiements / coal plant centrale à charbon / to shut, shut, shut down fermer définitivement.
5. SUV = sport-utility vehicle 4x4 / decade décennie / roughly environ / to heat chauffer.
6. steel acier / stringent strict / oil pétrole / to slash réduire (considérablement) / potent puissant, important / heat-trapping qui retient la chaleur; ici, à effet de serre.
7. to expand s’étendre / farming agriculture; ici, agricole / to rework ici, repenser / to pull out of extraire.
8. to pursue ici, réaliser / own propre / target cible, objectif / across ici, partout dans / to enact mettre en place / building construction / charging station borne de recharge / to shift to passer à, opter pour / clean propre, "vert".
9. widespread généralisé / business (des) entreprise(s) / robustly solidement / to anchor ancrer / to view ici, considérer / numbers game jeu de nombres.