Promptly implementing the aggressive actions necessary to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas pollution to net-zero by 2050 would save the U.S. at least $3.5 trillion compared to the cost of waiting until 2030 to start achieving that goal, a report published Wednesday by Energy Innovation found.
The savings, the authors of the report emphasize, only consider the spending required to slash U.S. emissions and thus do not include the savings that would be incurred by the public health benefits of reducing fossil fuel extraction and combustion or the avoided costs associated with extreme weather which delayed climate action could worsen.
“To meet climate goals, it is imperative to start climate action today,” Megan Mahajan, one of the co-authors of the report, told Earther.
“In particular, it is urgent to quickly transition to electric vehicles and building components, because polluting equipment sold today will last for decades.”
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