The struggle against poverty in the world and the challenge of cutting wealthy country emissions all has a single, very simple solution... Here it is: Put a price on carbon.
By fundamentally changing how we design the places and systems that enable our daily lives, we can slash emissions way beyond the immediate carbon savings - because our own personal emissions are just the tip of a vast iceberg of energy and resources consumed far from our view.
Cities generate most of the global economy, and most of its energy use, resource demands and climate emissions. How we build cities over the next decades will largely determine whether we can deliver a bright green future.
Carbon zero simply means that the emissions you are releasing either are zero or balance out to zero.
There's a lot of evidence that shows that if we push as hard as we need to for net-zero emissions, we'll find ourselves with cities that are more secure, healthier, and have more economic opportunity - are frankly better cities to live in - than if we settle for the status quo.
Working together, we can meet our shared goal to combat climate change. From harmonizing vehicle emissions standards to using our trading relationship to boost investment in clean energy, the actions the United States and Canada take together will help both nations meet international goals.
The government believes that we will need to take the step of enshrining the Paris goal for net zero emissions in U.K. law. The question is not whether but how we do it.
EPA's Affordable Clean Energy rule (ACE), would restore the states' proper role under the Clean Air Act and our system of federalism. Our plan would allow states to establish standards of performance that meet EPA emissions guidelines.
Our position is that we believe that Canada has to have a comprehensive plan to significantly reduce global emissions.
Are we better off if we displace jobs and investments to other countries and global emissions go up? I say no. Let's bring that production here and have less emissions globally because we can make things more efficiently and cleaner.
