Biden sets economy-wide climate target: Reducing emissions 66% in 2035 from 2005 levels

President Biden announced an audacious goal for America to reduce its carbon emissions by two thirds with barely weeks left in his administration.

Biden’s White House announced the new goal in a public statement. It calls for the U.S. to massively reduce its carbon emissions by 2035, invoking the Paris Agreement.

“Today, as the United States continues to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy, President Biden is announcing a new climate target for the United States: a 61-66 percent reduction in 2035 from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions,” the White House wrote.

“It keeps the United States on a straight line or steeper path to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050. In connection with this announcement, the United States is making a formal submission of this new target to the United Nations Climate Change secretariat as its next NDC under the Paris Agreement,” the statement continued.

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President Biden speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House on Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President-elect Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement soon after entering office in his first term. Biden then re-entered the U.S. into the treaty. Trump has not said whether he plans to once again remove the U.S. from the plan, which calls on global powers to self-impose climate reforms.

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Trump reportedly plans to install an “energy czar” to scale back energy and climate regulations implemented under the Biden administration.

President-elect Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Six sources familiar with Trump’s transition team told the New York Times last month that a series of executive orders and presidential proclamations have been drafted related to climate and energy, aimed at rolling back Biden-era clean energy regulations that some critics argue have hurt the economy. 

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Other plans Trump and his transition team are reportedly discussing include installing an “energy czar” to help cut regulations on domestic energy production and potentially moving the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) headquarters outside of Washington, D.C.

Trump and Biden have had dueling climate agendas. (Getty Images)

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“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital when asked to confirm the details about Trump’s reported plans. “He will deliver.”

Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.