How the Northeast Could Cut Carbon Pollution by 75 Percent in 5 Simple Steps

A new report says the northeastern U.S. could cut its carbon dioxide emissions in half — just by taking advantage of technology that’s already available.

“It’s really about heating buildings and powering transportation,” said Jamie Howland, the director of the Climate Energy Analysis Center at ENE, and the report’s lead author.  “Those are two things that have traditionally been done directly by fossil fuels.”

The ENE EnergyVision report covers Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and New Jersey.  It notes that over the last decade, oil and coal collapsed as power sources for the electrical grids of those states. Hydroelectric, other renewables, nuclear, and natural gas rose to take their place, making electrical power there greener.  So simply switching things like building heat and transportation over to electric power — using technology that’s already commercialized — could deliver huge gains.

“If you just hypothetically did that, greenhouse gas emissions would be cut in half.  I don’t think most people realize that,” Howland said.  “You get cost reductions in many cases. And you get those today, with today’s electricity generated by natural gas.”

Beyond that, combining such a move with a big push onto renewables to power the electrical grid, and the Northeast’s emissions could drop 75 percent by 2050.

How the Northeast Could Cut Carbon Pollution by 75 Percent in 5 Simple Steps