The U.S. Needs to Build More, Faster to Reach Net Zero
A new report shows that even with climate-friendly policies, the current rate of development would only get the U.S. halfway there by 2050.
Photographer: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
After years of waiting, Infrastructure Week finally happened. Last Wednesday, U.S. senators reached a bipartisan agreement on a $550 billion infrastructure bill, working through the weekend to finalize the text. On Sunday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill could be voted on “in a matter of days.”
While Congress was debating the size of the check, researchers at Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment were preparing a report showing that the pace of infrastructure investment will have to speed up—considerably—to reach President Joe Biden’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.