Notes

Way off. In 2015’s Paris Agreement, nearly all the world’s countries pledged to try to limit global warming to an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100. That is not going well—at all. Last year, global emissions of greenhouse gases hit a record high—and this year, they’re on pace to break the record again. If these trends continue, temperatures will be up by 3.1 degrees by the end of the century. So why aren’t any of these countries reining in their emissions?

Today, Rachel Cleetus explores the factors driving the ongoing rise in fossil-fuels usage: new and unexpected sources of demand for electricity, old and familiar interests pushing for more coal and oil, and, above all, the emerging dynamics shaping the power sector—which Cleetus sees as the key to decarbonizing the economy everywhere.

—Michael Bluhm