US sets a big climate goal – can Biden pull it off?

+ the Pentagon Papers at 50 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

President Joe Biden hosted a virtual climate summit on Earth Day, and it was surreal: Picture a giant Zoom-like conference with 40 world leaders, including the presidents of Russia and China, all pledging to fight climate change.

Biden kicked it off with an ambitious new U.S. commitment to cut carbon emissions in half by the end of this decade. That pledge is generating a lot of excitement, but before declaring the climate saved, let’s take a closer look at what has to happen to meet Biden’s goal. Energy and climate policy experts David Victor and Morgan Bazilian explain the challenge that lies ahead.

Meanwhile, one theme kept surfacing as the world leaders talked: hydrogen as a fuel of the new energy economy.

Also today:

Stacy Morford

Environment and Climate Editor

Today's newsletter supported by MarketWatch

U.S. President Joe Biden, with presidential climate envoy John Kerry, opened the Leaders Summit on Climate April 22, 2021, by announcing new U.S. targets. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

New US climate pledge: Cut emissions 50% this decade, but can Biden make it happen?

Morgan Bazilian, Colorado School of Mines; David Victor, University of California San Diego

Two energy and climate policy pros take a closer look at the Leaders Summit on Climate, the US pledge and today's industrial reality.

Politics + Society

For Vladimir Putin and other autocrats, ruthlessly repressing the opposition is often a winning way to stay in power

Shelley Inglis, University of Dayton

There's not much the world can do to stop authoritarian rulers from persecuting their political opponents, as shown by the standoff over Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who is ill and imprisoned.
The other George Floyd story: How media freedom led to conviction in his killer’s trial

Michael J. Socolow, University of Maine

The history and weight of US press freedom played a powerful, but unacknowledged, role in the conviction of Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd.
How Richard Nixon’s obsession with Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers sowed the seeds for the president’s downfall

Christian Appy, University of Massachusetts Amherst

The episode might have slipped quietly from the news had Nixon decided to not attack the messenger.

Environment + Energy
GPS tracking could help tigers and traffic coexist in Asia Neil Carter, University of Michigan An infrastructure boom threatens endangered tigers across Asia. Scientists want to know more about how tigers behave near roads so they can design wildlife-friendly transportation networks.

Health

Declaring racism a public health crisis brings more attention to solving long-ignored racial gaps in health

Paul K. Halverson, IUPUI

Black Americans have worse health outcomes by many measures. To draw attention to that fact, the CDC and communities across the country have called racism a public health threat.
Asian American young adults are the only racial group with suicide as their leading cause of death, so why is no one talking about this?

Amelia Noor-Oshiro, Johns Hopkins University

A public health scholar explores why Asian Americans in their late teens and early adulthood are at high risk for death by suicide.

Podcast
Nigeria: why do children keep getting kidnapped? Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Wale Fatade, The Conversation Plus, why women join Al-Shabaab in Kenya. Listen to episode 12 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.

From our international editions

After early success, India’s daily COVID infections have surpassed the US and Brazil. Why?

Rajib Dasgupta, Jawaharlal Nehru University

After a massive reduction in COVID case numbers and optimism about the vaccine rollout, India has seen a huge second wave of infections.
Why the fire on Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain was particularly devastating

Alanna Rebelo, Stellenbosch University; Karen Joan Esler, Stellenbosch University

Fire hazards are influenced by three factors: weather, an ignition source and fuel loads. The first two are unpredictable. But fuel loads can be managed.
Dead Sea Scrolls: two scribes probably wrote one of the manuscripts

Peter Phillips, Durham University

The researchers used machine learning to study the 2,000-year-old document.

US sets a big climate goal – can Biden pull it off?

New US climate pledge: Cut emissions 50% this decade, but can Biden make it happen?

Politics + Society

For Vladimir Putin and other autocrats, ruthlessly repressing the opposition is often a winning way to stay in power

The other George Floyd story: How media freedom led to conviction in his killer’s trial

How Richard Nixon’s obsession with Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers sowed the seeds for the president’s downfall

Environment + Energy

GPS tracking could help tigers and traffic coexist in Asia

Health

Declaring racism a public health crisis brings more attention to solving long-ignored racial gaps in health

Asian American young adults are the only racial group with suicide as their leading cause of death, so why is no one talking about this?

Podcast

Nigeria: why do children keep getting kidnapped?

From our international editions

After early success, India’s daily COVID infections have surpassed the US and Brazil. Why?

Why the fire on Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain was particularly devastating

Dead Sea Scrolls: two scribes probably wrote one of the manuscripts

Older messages

Why corporate America fell out of love with the GOP

Chauvin guilty: Four scholars unpack trial verdict

Castro steps down – what's next for US and Cuba?

A single Tyrannosaurus rex needed 42.4 square miles to live on

Water wars at the Supreme Court

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