Biden to sign order pushing federal government to hit net-zero emissions by 2050

President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order on Wednesday that aims to see federal operations achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The order outlines five goals focused on transitioning federal government infrastructure, which includes more than 300,000 buildings and 600,000 trucks and cars, to “zero-emission vehicles and buildings powered by carbon pollution-free electricity,” said the White House. 

The government will move away from purchasing gas-powered vehicles and instead shift to electric vehicles with the goal of reaching 100% zero-emission vehicle acquisitions by 2035. The order also calls for new and existing federal buildings to “increase water and energy efficiency, reduce waste, electrify systems and promote sustainable locations for federal facilities,” in order to hit net-zero building emissions by 2045.

The White House said the new bipartisan infrastructure law and the president’s Build Back Better Act will provide funding to meet the goals in the executive order.

This is the latest move by the Biden administration to help slash greenhouse gas emissions and combat the climate crisis. The infrastructure deal, which Biden signed in November, contains $7.5 billion toward building half a million electric vehicle chargers across the country in the next decade, as the president seeks to encourage that half of all new automobiles sold in 2030 will be electric.

The world’s leading climate scientists released a 2018 report on climate change as part of the UN and The Paris Agreement, which warns that we only have until 2030 to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degrees F). If that number is surpassed, it significantly increases the chances of droughts, floods and extreme heat across the planet, which could prove catastrophic.