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ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

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characteristics, and management trends. However, in part due to actions<br />

undertaken by the United States to bolster the forest carbon sink, the authors<br />

of the 2016 report believe that the United States is trending toward a more<br />

high-sequestration (“optimistic”) pathway.<br />

The report estimates two emissions projection scenarios. The first,<br />

the Current Measures scenario, reflects the impact of those policies and<br />

measures that have been established up to mid-2015. This includes, most<br />

notably, the Clean Power Plan, more stringent light-duty vehicle economy<br />

standards, recent appliance and equipment efficiency standards, and actions<br />

to reduce agricultural emissions and bolster our forest carbon sink.<br />

However, the Current Measures scenario does not include measures that<br />

were not final at the time of the publication, such as then-draft standards<br />

for oil and gas methane, phase two heavy-duty vehicle standards, and the<br />

five-year extension of tax credits for wind and solar. Therefore, the Current<br />

Measures scenario underestimates the full impact of policies undertaken<br />

under the President’s Climate Action Plan. Under the Current Measures<br />

scenario, GHG emissions are projected to decline 15 percent below the 2005<br />

level in 2020 with an optimistic land sector sink (Figure 7-27). The effects<br />

of policies implemented under the Obama Administration are clear when<br />

comparing the 2015 projections to the 2006 projections, in which emissions<br />

were expected to increase by about 20 percent above 2005 levels by 2020.<br />

Clear progress in driving down projected GHG emissions can be seen since<br />

2010 and even since 2014. The 2016 projections mark the first time a U.S.<br />

Climate Action Report has projected GHG emissions to fall based on existing<br />

policies. This reflects the large number of policies implemented in the<br />

prior two years.<br />

Also in the 2016 Second Biennial Report is an Additional Measures<br />

scenario that includes measures consistent with the Climate Action Plan that<br />

were planned, but not implemented, when the Report was completed, such<br />

as policies to cut methane and volatile organic compound emissions from<br />

oil and gas systems, and a proposed amendment to the Montreal Protocol<br />

to phase down production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons. The<br />

report estimates the impact of planned policies separately on emissions of<br />

carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, and nitrous oxide. These<br />

estimates are synthesized and presented as a range due to uncertainty in<br />

policy implementation. The report projects that the Additional Measures<br />

scenario with an optimistic land sector sink will lead to emission reductions<br />

of at least 17 percent from 2005 levels in 2020, and 22 to 27 percent below<br />

2005 levels in 2025 (Figure 7-28). Note that some of the policies included in<br />

the report as “additional measures” (for example, new GHG emissions standards<br />

for heavy-duty vehicles, and methane standards for new sources in the<br />

472 | Chapter 7

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