Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the goals laid out in the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package are enough to reduce carbon emissions below their 2005 levels by 45% by 2030.

The two plans would comprise 66% of the total projected emissions reductions.

“When you add administrative actions being planned by the Biden administration and many states--like New York, California, and Hawaii--we hit our 50 percent target by 2030,” Schumer wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter.

The breakdown of the letter projects a 9.1% reduction in methane fees, 8.1% through forest management and agricultural conservation, 4.7% through transit electrification and increased ridership, 4.4% through renewable building incentives and 7.8% by repealing fossil fuel subsidies and offering tax incentives for renewable fuels.

Schumer noted that “many important policies” will help lead to the desired outcome such as the Clean Energy Payment program that will provide incentives and payments for electricity suppliers to gradually increase the amount of clean energy they produce. The goal is to get to 80% clean energy nationwide by 2030, and 100% by 2035. The Clean Energy Payment Program would cover up to 42% of the Biden administration’s goal on climate change as the tax incentives would expand wind, solar, and other renewable energy technology.

Leon Clarke, research director for the University of Maryland’s Center for Global Sustainability, told CNN that multiple studies show the two largest emissions contributors in the U.S. are transportation and electricity. Decarbonizing both of these sectors would reduce most of the country’s emissions.

"Almost always what you see is that basically by phasing out coal and replacing it with other stuff, that electricity is going to be 50% of your reductions," Clarke said. "Those are your big plays in the short run."

Since the reconciliation bill is still being drafted, Clarke said it will be difficult to tell how much of an impact the bill will have on the nation’s climate emissions.

"Everyone's guessing; nobody knows what the policies are," Clarke said. "Everyone knows you've got to get rid of coal, but nobody has the ability to say here's what's going to be in the actual bill, and here's an assessment of that."

Schumer says his team gathered the best data from a wide range of organizations that specialize in policy analysis for each emissions-reducing policy. He also clarified the numbers are expected to change.

Schumer has said he wants the final draft of the reconciliation bill completed by Sept. 15.

“We are on the precipice of the most significant climate action in our country’s history. I do not believe we have the luxury of failure if we are to provide a good future for ourselves and our children,” Schumer wrote.

Climate change