Initial Conditions: U.S.

Energy Sector

The U.S. is a large and not very efficient user of energy.

Dividends available by increasing energy efficiency
85% of our energy is created through the burning of fossil fuels using
traditional technologies.
Contributes to a very serious environmental problem
Much of the U.S. energy sector physical assets are old and
deteriorating.
T&D system needs upgrade for growth and modernization
Nuclear plants constructed largely in the 1970s and 1980s
Coal plants are aging, inefficient and environmentally suspect
Domestic petroleum reserves being depleted
Transportation sector is almost fully dependent on petroleum, much
of which is imported and the worldwide demand is likely to grow
faster than worldwide reserves.
 Technology Options Considered
Energy efficiency
Alternative transportation fuels
Renewable electric power generation
Natural gas and advanced coal-fired power generation and CO2
capture and storage
Nuclear power
Electric power transmission, distribution, control and storage

Options Not Considered

Conservation
Improvements in exploration, extraction and transportation of primary
energy sources.
Fuller assessment of world wide primary energy resources
 U.S. culture is truly an energy based
culture
It is one of the most energy intensive
ways of life in the world
Compared to other IEA countries, it has
abundant energy resources
Imports resources at a relatively low cost
and with low levels of taxation
 Top consumer of oil in the world
2008, in thousands of barrels per day
United States 19,498
China 7,831
Japan 4,785
India 2,962
Russia 2,916
Germany 2,569
Brazil 2,485
Saudi Arabia 2,376
Canada 2,261
South Korea 2,175
Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/country/index.cfm
 Market-driven Constructive market rule

Reform

Energy supply
security concerns

Local
pollution
Policy-driven concerns Destructive market rule
Rivalry
Renewal

Global precautionary focus Local/national permissive focus

 The main aim of the Agreement is to "the increase in the global
average temperature to well below 2 C above pre-industrial
levels", predominantly by reducing greenhouse gas emissions
In April 2016, the United States became a signatory to the Paris
Agreement, and accepted it by executive order in September 2016.
President Obama committed the United States to contributing
US$3 billion to the Green Climate Fund
On November 8, 2016, four days after the Paris Agreement entered
into force in the United States, Donald Trump of the Republican
Party was elected President of the United States
During the G7 summit in late May 2017, Trump was the only G7
member not to reconfirm commitment to the Paris Agreement.
Environmentalists and others have long worried a US withdrawal
could create a domino effect, with other high carbon-producing
countries following Washington's lead.

Many of those countries, however, have reaffirmed their commitment

to the deal.

Just prior to Trump's announcement, China, the world's biggest

greenhouse emitter, said it would keep up its end of the accord, even
if the US pulls out of the agreement.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang said it was "in our interest ... to
work step by step towards sustainable development" and
environmental protection together with the international community.
 Trump said The bottom line is that the Paris accord is very unfair at the
highest level to the United States. He claimed that the agreement, if
implemented, would cost the United States $3 trillion in lost GDP and 6.5
million jobs
In Article 28 of the Paris Agreement, especially in para 28.1 and 28.2, that
no Party (country) can submit a notification of withdrawal before November
4, 2019, three years from the Agreement coming into force.
The minimum duration thereafter for the actual withdrawal of any country
from the Agreement after ratification is 12 months, that is not before 5
November 2020
This means till 5 November 2020, the US will continue to be a full-fledged
member of the Paris Agreement and will be able to participate in all its
deliberations fleshing out various Rules and Mechanisms, including
mooting amendments to the Agreement
 It is an agreement within the UNFCCC dealing with greenhouse gas emissions
mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.

The aim is to limit global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius above pre-
industrial levels by 2100.

This level is considered a crucial tipping point, above which there will be
serious consequences for global food production and more frequent and
dangerous climate events, such as flooding and drought.
To achieve this, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to be cut by an
estimated 40-70 percent by 2050, and by 2100 the planet must be carbon-
neutral.

Under the Paris accord, each country must submit its own plan to reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases and address the impact of climate change.

The agreement as a whole is not legally binding and does not penalise
nations who fail to meet their commitments.

But it does impose an obligation on countries to implement their plans and

includes a review process designed to pressure them into compliance and to
 The Paris Agreement was an addition to the
United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC), initially agreed to
by all 195 countries present at the 2015 United
Nations Climate Change Conference in
December of that year, including the United
States then under the presidency of Barack
Obama
Due to the status of the United States and
China as the greatest emitters of carbon
dioxide, Obama's support and his cooperation
with China were seen as major factors leading
to the convention's early success