Half of today’s climate change is caused by super pollutant greenhouse gases—including methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and nitrous oxide (N2O)—that are far more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2).
Slashing emissions of these super-pollutants is the fastest way to tackle climate change and a critical complement to reducing carbon dioxide—while creating good-paying clean energy jobs, preventing hundreds of thousands of deaths annually due to respiratory illnesses, and boosting food security.
Since Day One in office, President Biden has taken historic action to dramatically reduce U.S. and global super pollutant emissions. For example, domestically the Biden-Harris administration is implementing the November 2021 U.S. Methane Action Plan that takes a whole-of-government approach to cut consumer costs, protect workers and communities, maintain and create high-quality, union-friendly jobs, and promote U.S. innovation and manufacturing of critical new technologies essential to tackling the climate crisis.
Globally, President Biden leads the charge. The Global Methane Pledge aims to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The U.S. ratified the Kigali Amendment. This agreement phases down HFCs and avoids 0.5°C of warming by 2100.
The Biden administration’s actions will reduce super pollutants by nearly 300 megatons per year by 2030. This equals the emissions of 70 million gasoline-powered cars.
Meanwhile, many Republicans in Congress continue to deny the very existence of climate change and remain committed to repealing the President’s Inflation Reduction Act—the biggest climate investment in history—which would put good-paying jobs in jeopardy and undermine the health and safety of their own constituents.
Reference-National Geographic, Scientific American,White House fact sheet, Our World in Data, POLITICO’s E&E News