The promise of deeper emissions cuts will very likely be ignored by the Trump administration, but officials hoped it would send a signal to the world.
President Biden on Thursday announced an aggressive new climate goal for the United States, saying that the country should seek to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 61 percent below 2005 levels by 2035.
The target is not binding and will almost certainly be disregarded by President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has called global warming a “scam.” But Biden administration officials said they hoped it would encourage state and local governments to continue to cut the emissions that are rapidly heating the planet, even if the federal government pulls back.
The announcement caps four years of climate policies from a president who has sought to make global warming a signature focus of his administration. In a video address from the White House, Mr. Biden said his efforts, including pumping billions of dollars into clean energy technologies and regulating pollution from power plants and automobiles, amounted to “the boldest climate agenda in American history.”
Mr. Biden said he expected progress in tackling climate change to continue after he had left office. “American industry will keep inventing and keep investing,” he said. “State, local, and tribal governments will keep stepping up. And together, we will turn this existential threat into a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our nation for generations to come.”
The new pledge of cutting emissions 61 to 66 percent below 2005 levels by 2035 is a significant update of commitments that the United States had already made. In 2021, Mr. Biden promised that the country would cut its heat-trapping emissions at least 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Scientists have said that global emissions must drop by roughly half this decade to keep global warming at relatively low levels.
But while U.S. emissions have been trending downward, the country is not currently on pace to meet even the earlier goal.