Have you ever wondered why the polar ice caps are melting? Or why there have been 35% more intensified disasters since the 1990s? These two things are due to global warming. When asked upon global warming, many might say, “I guess it’s an issue,” without understanding how large of an issue it is or wanting to act on it. This is why I decided to research this topic which led to my main research question, what is the Biden Administration’s plan to reduce greenhouse gasses and what can you  do to make a positive impact on our planet? I decided to branch my research into three main areas that were necessary for me to answer my question and then I found resources and an interviewee who really helped. The main areas I mainly focused on to answer my question were: the Biden Administration’s plan to reduce greenhouse gasses, simple ways to reduce emissions and the reasons why people aren’t motivated to take action.

Let’s start with the Biden Administration’s plan to reduce greenhouse gasses and why It’s difficult for him to reach his goals. When Donald Trump was president previously, he demolished environmental safeguards, put an end to climate science and abandoned global cooperation by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. Then when Joe Biden was elected president, he re-entered the Paris Agreement, plans to reach net zero emissions economy wide before 2050 and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius. But that’s not it, in addition to his main goals to build back better, he has other plans, including reaching 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, building greener homes, spending  174 billion dollars to promote electric cars and charging stations and creating jobs for many people in the process. His goals can be met by replacing coal mine jobs with jobs in the solar panel or wind turbine industry. This not only helps him reach his ambitious goals, but is better for human health and is good for the economy.

In addition to the Biden Administration’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses, there are various things you can do to make a positive impact on the environment. If you’re someone who wants to reduce your emissions, you could start with being carbon neutral. This just means that you’re balancing your emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal. Carbon dioxide is a main contributor which accounts for about 76 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. Being carbon neutral might mean that if you’re going to a grocery store and you buy beef, you could donate a small sum of money to an environmental organization such as “One Tree Planted” which plants one tree for just one dollar! You’re being carbon neutral by doing this since well, pretend that beef came from a farm in a tropical rain forest, but they had to cut down trees for farmland and since tree’s absorb carbon dioxide, you’re increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Something else you can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to be considerate of what you consume. This doesn’t just mean being mindful of what you’re eating, it means you reduce greenhouse gasses at every opportunity you get. A great example of this is taking shorter showers. 5 minute showers create 2.25 pounds of carbon dioxide and if you take a shower over the course of one year, you will be left with 821.25 pounds of carbon dioxide which is just from showering!

It might surprise you that 62% of Americans today say that greenhouse gasses are affecting them, although less than half of them are motivated to take action. Well, this isn’t surprising. Even though some people have begun to experience the effects of greenhouse gasses, few are directly affected causing them to ignore the issue that is slowly creeping up on them. My interviewee, Anne Jaffe Holmes said, “Greenhouse gases are one of these things that stay in the atmosphere and affect us badly, but many people don’t see it so it’s ‘not there.’ But I think that the bad things help us understand and protect the good things.” Some people also believe climate controls, or action that is necessary to protect our environment, will negatively impact the economy. For example, if companies were forced to develop new technology and build new machines to lower their emissions, that would massively impact their profit and most aren’t willing to do that. But you have to ask yourself if effects of greenhouse gasses are worth a cheaper life.

In conclusion, we all have to work together if we want to protect our planet. Greenhouse gasses will continue to cause negative effects on our planet, but the situation is not hopeless. There are many things that people are doing to reduce greenhouse gases. Not only the Biden Administration, but many other people are contributing massively to the reduction of greenhouse gasses. If you are not one of those people who are encouraged to help, I recommend you learn more about greenhouse gases and how they are negatively affecting our planet. Then maybe you will realize this is an issue and you will be motivated to help. Finally, if you really don’t understand why reducing greenhouse gases are important, here is a quote from David Attenbourg an environmentalist, ““the world is not a bowl of fruit from which we can just take what we wish. We are part of it and if we destroy it we destroy ourselves.” Think about this.