Full Title: Setting the Standards: How Performance Standards Can Get the US to 0x50
Author(s): Lindsey Walter and Josh Freed
Publisher(s): Climate and Energy Program, Third Way
Publication Date: December 11, 2019
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Among climate policy advocates there is a growing consensus around using performance standards to eliminate carbon pollution from the United States. We agree that performance standards should be a central piece to the federal government’s plan to fight climate change. Here’s why.
A national climate plan needs to check many boxes. It must provide guaranteed emissions cuts to ensure we meet net-zero by 2050 at the absolute latest. It must set clear, tangible goals and provide long-term policy certainty to spur full buy-in from businesses and investors. It must be affordable and fair to all Americans. It must be paired with sufficient investment and incentives to get things innovated and built. And it must attract a large coalition of support from workers, businesses, and impacted communities. Fortunately, there is a suite of policies with a proven track record in all of these areas: performance standards.