Reports Say Dire Effects Will Be Starting Soon. How Can the Economy Quickly Shed Carbon?

With the influx of new members of Congress in January, suddenly everybody is talking about a Green New Deal that would address greenhouse gas emissions and other social ills via a suite of interlinked policies. Proponents are talking about ridding the American energy economy of carbon, and on a short timeline — by 2030. Even before the recent election, stakeholders had been talking about what has come to be called deep decarbonization, with proposals that call for eliminating from the global energy system at least 80 percent of greenhouse emissions by mid-century, with further reductions to come.