Biden Is Right to Aim High on Climate

Even if President Joe Biden had no ground to make up — if his predecessor hadn’t pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement and done his best to stop all progress toward climate protection — he still would have needed an aggressive new target for lowering emissions. The country’s previous Paris commitment was too modest for the U.S. to do its part in bringing global warming under control. In addition, Biden wants the U.S. to take up its proper leading role in setting standards for the world.

The mark the president has set — to cut emissions to at least half their 2005 level by 2030 — is the right one. It’s suitably ambitious, calling for drastic transformations in energy use and farm and industrial practices. And its nine-year time frame is short enough to spur actions immediately and in the foreseeable future — not decades down the road.