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Best places to buy cheap prescription glasses online
EyeBuyDirect, Warby Parker
Need new glasses? When you combine the cost of designer frames, with high-end lenses that have special coatings and features, it’s easy to spend $500 to $1,000. But you don’t have to.
You can spend less than $100 for a quality pair of single-vision prescription eyeglasses. Online companies like GlassesUSA, Zenni Optical, Warby Parker, LensCrafters and EyeBuyDirect — that offer affordable glasses that’ll serve you well. These companies also offer prescription sunglasses and you can even upgrade your eyewear with fancy frames and premium lenses.
Our team of in-house shopping experts have found best places to shop online for inexpensive prescription glasses. And don’t worry if there’s a problem with the glasses you order online. This roundup only features companies that offer a money-back guarantee and easy exchanges. And most offer a virtual try-on feature, so you can see how your new glasses will look on your face before placing your order.
Where to buy cheap glasses
Whether you need single vision, bi-focals, or progressive lenses, prescription sunglasses, or lenses that automatically darken in the sun, shopping online has serious benefits. It’s easy, saves money and gives you a much larger selection than what’s typically on offer at the optometrist’s office.
- Best overall place to find cheapest prescription glasses: GlassesUSA
- Best place to find sales on prescription glasses: Zenni Optical
- Best place for style selection on a budget: Warby Parker
- Best place for lenses, contacts and beyond: LensCrafters
- Best place for prescription glasses starting under $25: EyeBuyDirect
Pro tip: When you’re shopping prescription glasses online, be sure to see if the company offers discounts to students, teachers, active military, seniors or first responders. And most of these companies offer an extra discount if you buy more than one pair of glasses at the same time.
Best overall place to find cheapest prescription glasses: GlassesUSA
GlassesUSA
Single-vision prescription: Yes | Bi-focals prescription: Yes | Progressive prescription: Yes | Readers: Yes | Prescription sunglasses: Yes | Light responsive lens option: Yes | Blue light filtering lens option: Yes | Virtual try-on: Yes | Home try-on: No | HSA/FSA accepted: Yes | Vision insurance accepted: Yes
You’re guaranteed to find various sales and promotions, whether it’s a BOGO deal, a 50% off frames sale, a discount up to $150 off when you buy progressive lenses, or up to 50% off prescription lenses and upgrades. Plus, GlassesUSA offers discounts to first responders, nurses, teachers, medical providers, military members, hospital workers, senior citizens, government employees and students.
From the GlassesUSA home page, we suggest clicking on the Sale page. But even without a sale, you’ll find single-vision prescription glasses costing as little as $38 (for the frames and lenses). Of course, the price increases if you opt for bi-focals, progressive lenses, choose a premium lens material. Lens options, like blue light protection and a photochromic feature (which means the lenses automatically darken when exposed to sunlight) also cost extra.
GlasesUSA.com is also great for designer frames (from Ray-Ban, Oakley, Prada, Coach, Versace, Gucci and 54 others). Designer frames are typically sold at up to 40% off of retail, and lens upgrades are offered for up to 50% off. New customers who sign up for a newsletter get a coupon good for up to 50% off a first pair of frames. All glasses come with a 14-day money-back guarantee, as well as a one-year warranty.
Best place to find sales on prescription glasses: Zenni Optical
Zenni Optical
Single-vision prescription: Yes | Bi-focals prescription: Yes | Progressive prescription: Yes | Readers: Yes | Prescription sunglasses: Yes | Light responsive lens option: Yes | Blue light filtering lens option: Yes | Virtual try-on: Yes | Home try-on: No | HSA/FSA accepted: Yes | Vision insurance accepted: Submit receipt for reimbursement
Zenni Optical is known for ultra-low cost frames, which range in price from a mere $6.95 to $59.95 with single-focus, basic prescription lenses included. Bi-focals, progressives, lens filters and coatings all increase prices; adding lenses that change color in sunlight will add about $160 to the cost, while a blue-light filter increases the cost by about $47.
Generally, if you’re looking for the most basic glasses at the lowest price, Zenni is the place to shop. That said, some of the ultra-cheap frame options fall into the “you get what you pay for” category in terms of quality and durability. When you start adding optional upgrades, the final cost will be similar to what you get elsewhere.
What we like about Zenni Optical is that shopping is easy. Quickly narrow your search through filters based on price, style, prescription, color and frame material. You’re guided through lens selection, too. Most of the frames have a virtual try-on feature. An additional 10% discount is offered to students, teachers, active military, first responders and medical workers. You’ll also always discover a wide range of frames and complete glasses on sale.
Best place for style selection on a budget: Warby Parker
Warby Parker
Single-vision prescription: Yes | Bi-focals prescription: Yes | Progressive prescription: Yes | Readers: Yes | Prescription sunglasses: Yes | Light responsive lens option: Yes | Blue light filtering lens option: Yes | Virtual try-on: Yes | Home try-on: Yes | HSA/FSA accepted: Yes | Vision insurance accepted: Yes
Warby Parker is a one-stop shop for all of your prescription eyewear. Most frames, which include single-vision prescription lenses, start at just $95. Progressive lenses start at $295.
The company sells only its own collection of frames (and there are many to choose from) and the website offers an easy virtual try-on feature. There’s also a home try-on option that allows you to select up to five frames and have them shipped to your home for free. Choose the frames you want, order your prescription glasses and return the samples in a pre-paid box.
You also get a wide range of lens options, so you can pick only the add-ons you need — whether it’s a blue-light filter, anti-fatigue filter, or light responsive lenses that darken in the sun. An anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coating are automatically included for free. The company uses polycarbonate lenses, but these can be upgraded to 1.67 high-index lenses for an additional fee.
In most cases, you can select a color or color combination and size, before moving on to customizing your lenses. You’ll be asked to either upload a copy of your prescription or provide contact information for your optometrist.
Warby Parker accepts virtually all vision insurance and HSA/FSA payments. If you order two pairs of glasses at the same time (one of which can be prescription sunglasses), you get an automatic 15% discount. And for every pair of prescription eyewear purchased, Warby Parker donates a pair to someone in need.
Best place for lenses, contacts and beyond: LensCrafters
LensCrafters
Single-vision prescription: Yes | Bi-focals prescription: Yes | Progressive prescription: Yes | Readers: Yes | Prescription sunglasses: Yes | Light responsive lens option: Yes | Blue light filtering lens option: Yes | Virtual try-on: Yes | Home try-on: No | HSA/FSA accepted: Yes | Vision insurance accepted: Yes
Beyond the vast selection of affordable eyeglass frame options, LensCrafts also sells designer frames (often on sale), and lots of specialized eyewear. Plus, the company offers discounts to AAA and AARP members, students, as well as ongoing sales and promotions available to everyone.
If you want designer frames from Ray-Ban, Oakley, Versace, Coach, Prada, Brooks Brothers or any of more than a dozen others, the place to shop online is LensCrafters. It’s also a one-stop online shop for prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses, as well as contacts.
The website makes it easy to shop for glasses based on brand, style, color or shape. Once you find the frames you love, choose from a wide range of lens options. Once your eyeglasses arrive, they come with a 30-day happiness guarantee. For an additional fee, you can upgrade to a protection plan that covers frames and lenses against damage, scratches and other issues for a full year.
Whether you’re shopping for prescription eyeglasses or prescription sunglasses, you’ll find a vast selection of designer frames to choose from, with new options coming in all the time. Some frame and single vision lens combos start as low as $100. You’ll also discover some designer frames on sale for as much as 60% off.
Best place for prescription glasses starting under $25: EyeBuyDirect
EyeBuyDirect
Single-vision prescription: Yes | Bi-focals prescription: Yes | Progressive prescription: Yes | Readers: Yes | Prescription sunglasses: Yes | Light responsive lens option: Yes | Blue light filtering lens option: Yes | Virtual try-on: Yes | Home try-on: No | HSA/FSA accepted: Yes | Vision insurance accepted: Yes
Like Zenni Optical, EyeBuyDirect offers an impressive selection of cheap prescription glasses — with some frames selling for just $19 (which includes single vision, 1.5 index prescription lenses). You’ll also discover premium brand frames from Ray-Ban, Oakley, Vogue Eyewear and more deeply discounted.
When shopping at EyeBuyDirect, it pays to purchase two or more pair of glasses at once, since the company offers a buy one, get one at 75% off deal (when you use code VISION75 at checkout). There are always all sorts of deals and digital discount coupons. And yes, if you’re a student, you’re also entitled to a 20% discount.
The least expensive options include EyeBuyDirect’s own frames combined with prescription lenses, but when you’re spending less than $50 for a frames and prescription lenses, the quality isn’t up to par with the designer frames offered by EyeBuyDirect and other companies (which cost more money). For people who need bi-focals or progressive lenses, you can expect to pay a bit more. However, the progressive lens upgrade on most prescription eyewear is as low as $49.
Is it cheaper to buy prescription glasses online?
Yes, in many cases, you can save a mint shopping for prescription eyewear online. The companies featured in this roundup are known for offering a wide range of single-vision prescription eyeglasses for $100 or less per pair. Plus, these companies offer ongoing discounts and sales. Most also accept HSA/FSA payments and vision insurance.
Even if you need bi-focals or progressives lenses (which adds cost to your prescription eyewear), these online companies tend to be less expensive than shopping for glasses at your optometrist’s office or a local eyeglass store. Plus, you’ll have access to a bigger selection and more upgrade options.
How to order prescription glasses online
Process couldn’t be easier. First, you’ll choose your eyeglass frames. Next, select your prescription lens options. Once you’re ready to place your order, you’ll need to upload a copy of your eyeglass prescription that’s less than one year old from an optometrist.
One way to save money is to click on the “On Sale” or “Deal” banner or menu option found on most prescription eyewear sites.
Zenni Optical
Before paying, determine what additional discounts you’re entitled to. Discounts are often offered to active military (and their families), students, AAA members or AARP members (and people over the age of 65). Several of these companies offer an additional discount when you order two or more pairs of prescription glasses (or sunglasses) at the same time. And many of these companies run continuous sales or promotions.
Using your favorite web browser, seek out active promo codes that could save you even more money. Within a search engine, like Google or Yahoo!, enter the phase “[company name] promo code” or “[company name] coupon code.” If you find a valid code, be sure to enter it into the appropriate field during the checkout process when purchasing your eyewear.
Google, RetailMeNot
Upon making your payment, your prescription glasses will be custom made and shipped directly to your door — typically within three to 14 business days.
What do I need to order prescription glasses online?
Regardless of where you shop, you’ll need:
- A current eyeglass prescription (less than one year old) from an optometrist. If you don’t have a copy of your prescription, be prepared to share your optometrist’s contact information.
- Your pupillary distance (PD) measurement. This something your optometrist can provide, or you can measure it yourself. The Zenni website offers a Custom Dual PD ruler that you can download and print for free.
- Your vision insurance information.
Types of lenses include single-vision, bi-focals (sometimes called multi-focals), or progressives. These lenses can be made from optical glass, CR-39 plastic or polycarbonate. There are several types of optional lens materials that impact their thickness, weight, clarity, reflection resistance and the level of protection they offer.
Once you pick a lens type, you’ll typically move on to optional lens coatings or treatments — think scratch resistance, an anti-reflective coating, UV blocking, a blue-light filter, tinting, polarization, or a light-responsive filter. Those options usually affect the cost.
What happens if the glasses don’t fit or the prescription is incorrect?
Virtually all sellers, including those featured in this roundup, offer a 14- or 30-day exchange or return policy. If the frames don’t fit, or you’re not seeing clearly, you can return the glasses for a full refund or have the glasses remade. After the return or exchange period, many of the online sellers will offer at least a six-month to one-year “no scratch” guarantee, which means the company will repair or replace the lenses if they get accidentally scratched.
In some cases, you can purchase an extended warranty, which will cover any damage to the frames or lenses during a predefined period. These extended warranty plans do not cover the glasses if they’re lost or stolen.
How to choose prescription glasses that fit
Eyeglass frames come in nine popular shapes — rectangular, square, round, aviator, oval, cat-eye, browline, oversized and geometric. At Warby Parker or Vint & York, you’ll discover guides for choosing a frame design based on your face shape. Of course, these are only suggestions. As long as they fit properly, the style and color of eyeglass frames you choose is a matter of personal preference.
- Round-shaped faces: Rectangle glasses, square glasses, geometric glasses, cat-eye glasses, browline glasses, or full-rimmed glasses are suggested.
- Oval-shaped faces: Just about any frame design will look good on someone with an oval-shaped face.
- Heart-shaped shaped faces: Oval glasses, round glasses, aviator glasses or semi-rimless glasses are suggested.
- Square-shaped faces: Round glasses, oval glasses, wire glasses, or semi-rimless glasses are suggested.
- Triangle-shaped faces: Rectangle glasses, browline glasses or cat-eye glasses are suggested.
- Diamond-shaped faces: Browline glasses, cat-eye glasses, round glasses, oval glasses or semi-rimless glasses are recommended.
Most eyeglass frames come in at least several sizes. If you look on the inner side of a frame’s arm, you’ll see numbers (which are measurements) engraved on it.
When you see three numbers on the eyeglass frame’s arm, and they’re separated by dashes or spaces, the first number is the lens width, the second is the bridge width and the third is the temple length. If you have existing eyeglass frames that fit well, you can typically use the same measurements for new frames. You can also often take advantage of a company’s virtual try-on or home try-on options.
The average person will need a lens width of between 40mm and 60mm, a bridge width between 14mm and 24mm, and a temple length between 120mm and 150mm. Two other measurements you might need to consider include the frame width and lens height. Ultimately, how the frames feel while being worn and how securely fit on your face are the most important considerations.
For more help finding and buying prescription eyewear, be sure to check out our coverage of the six best places to buy prescription glasses online in 2024 and the best prescription sunglasses for 2024.
When Michael Adams was researching health insurance options last year, he had one very specific requirement: coverage for prosthetic limbs.
Adams, 51, lost his right leg to cancer 40 years ago, and he has worn out more legs than he can count. He picked a gold plan on the Colorado health insurance marketplace that covered prosthetics, including microprocessor-controlled knees like the one he has used for many years. That function adds stability and helps prevent falls.
But when his leg needed replacing in January after about five years of everyday use, his new marketplace health plan wouldn’t authorize it. The roughly $50,000 leg with the electronically controlled knee wasn’t medically necessary, the insurer said, even though Colorado law leaves that determination up to the patient’s doctor, and his has prescribed a version of that leg for many years, starting when he had employer-sponsored coverage.
“The electronic prosthetic knee is life-changing,” said Adams, who lives in Lafayette, Colorado, with his wife and two kids. Without it, “it would be like going back to having a wooden leg like I did when I was a kid.” The microprocessor in the knee responds to different surfaces and inclines, stiffening up if it detects movement that indicates its user is falling.
Alana Adams
People who need surgery to replace a joint typically don’t encounter similar coverage roadblocks. In 2021, 1.5 million knee or hip joint replacements were performed in United States hospitals and hospital-owned ambulatory facilities, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or AHRQ. The median price for a total hip or knee replacement without complications at top orthopedic hospitals was just over $68,000 in 2020, according to one analysis, though health plans often negotiate lower rates.
To people in the amputee community, the coverage disparity amounts to discrimination.
“Insurance covers a knee replacement if it’s covered with skin, but if it’s covered with plastic, it’s not going to cover it,” said Jeffrey Cain, a family physician and former chair of the board of the Amputee Coalition, an advocacy group. Cain wears two prosthetic legs, having lost his after an airplane accident nearly 30 years ago.
AHIP, a trade group for health plans, said health plans generally provide coverage when the prosthetic is determined to be medically necessary, such as to replace a body part or function for walking and day-to-day activity. In practice, though, prosthetic coverage by private health plans varies tremendously, said Ashlie White, chief strategy and programs officer at the Amputee Coalition. Even though coverage for basic prostheses may be included in a plan, “often insurance companies will put caps on the devices and restrictions on the types of devices approved,” White said.
That means that a patient’s costs can also fluctuate significantly, depending on that person’s coverage specifics, the plan’s restrictions and even geographic cost differences.
An estimated 2.3 million people are living with limb loss in the U.S., according to an analysis by Avalere, a health care consulting company. That number is expected to as much as double in coming years as people age and a growing number lose limbs to diabetes, trauma and other medical problems.
Fewer than half of people with limb loss have been prescribed a prosthesis, according to a report by the AHRQ. Plans may deny coverage for prosthetic limbs by claiming they aren’t medically necessary or are experimental devices, even though microprocessor-controlled knees like Adams’ have been in use for decades.
Cain was instrumental in getting passed a 2000 Colorado law that requires insurers to cover prosthetic arms and legs at parity with Medicare, which requires coverage with a 20% coinsurance payment. Since that measure was enacted, about half of states have passed “insurance fairness” laws that require prosthetic coverage on par with other covered medical services in a plan or laws that require coverage of prostheses that enable people to do sports. But these laws apply only to plans regulated by the state. Over half of people with private coverage are in plans not governed by state law.
The Medicare program’s 80% coverage of prosthetic limbs mirrors its coverage for other services. Still, an October report by the Government Accountability Office found that only 30% of beneficiaries who lost a limb in 2016 received a prosthesis in the following three years.
Cost is a factor for many people.
“No matter your coverage, most people have to pay something on that device,” White said. As a result, “many people will be on a payment plan for their device,” she said. Some may take out loans.
The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a rule that would prohibit lenders from repossessing medical devices such as wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs if people can’t repay their loans.
“It is a replacement limb,” said White, whose organization has heard of several cases in which lenders have repossessed wheelchairs or prostheses. Repossession is “literally a punishment to the individual.”
Adams ultimately owed a coinsurance payment of about $4,000 for his new leg, which reflected his portion of the insurer’s negotiated rate for the knee and foot portion of the leg but did not include the costly part that fits around his stump, which didn’t need replacing. The insurer approved the prosthetic leg on appeal, claiming it had made an administrative error, Adams said.
“We’re fortunate that we’re able to afford that 20%,” said Adams, who is a self-employed leadership consultant.
Again, out-of-pocket costs – even if the patient has health insurance and a doctor’s prescription – can be cost-prohibitive because of the plan’s co-insurance requirements as well as coverage caps or other limitations.
Leah Kaplan doesn’t have that financial flexibility. Born without a left hand, she did not have a prosthetic limb until a few years ago.
Growing up, “I didn’t want more reasons to be stared at,” said Kaplan, 32, of her decision not to use a prosthesis. A few years ago, the cycling enthusiast got a prosthetic hand specially designed for use with her bike. That device was covered under the health plan she has through her county government job in Spokane, Washington, helping developmentally disabled people transition from school to work.
But when she tried to get approval for a prosthetic hand to use for everyday activities, her health plan turned her down. The myoelectric hand she requested would respond to electrical impulses in her arm that would move the hand to perform certain actions. Without insurance coverage, the hand would cost her just over $46,000, which she said she can’t afford.
Working with her doctor, she has appealed the decision to her insurer and been denied three times. Kaplan said she’s still not sure exactly what the rationale is, except that the insurer has questioned the medical necessity of the prosthetic hand. The next step is to file an appeal with an independent review organization certified by the state insurance commissioner’s office.
A prosthetic hand is not a luxury device, Kaplan said. The prosthetic clinic has ordered the hand and made the customized socket that will fit around the end of her arm. But until insurance coverage is sorted out, she can’t use it.
At this point, she feels defeated. “I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” Kaplan said.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.
Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
Martin O’Malley has the kind of experience that would typically benefit a Democrat who wants to guide the party’s future after devastating losses in the last election.
He’s a former governor, former mayor and a 2016 presidential candidate who until recently was serving in President Joe Biden’s administration. Yet O’Malley is facing a difficult path in the race to try and become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee as the party reckons with the reality that key pockets of voters turned against it.
Vital to O’Malley’s attempt is a campaign platform, first reported by CBS News, that calls for reconnecting the Democratic Party “to the kitchen table of every American family.”
“We suffered a very bad loss,” O’Malley said in an interview, urging Democrats “to learn from it in order to win the next battles ahead.”
His vision is centered on a 57-state and territory strategy along with plans to give campaigns “world-class AI tools for voter outreach, research, communications, and financial management, eliminating barriers to effective campaigning.” O’Malley’s pitch is also focused on “re-investing in direct voter registration,” as part of his pledge for the party to make “voter protection and registration the pillars of the change we need to win.”
Democrats weathered a chaotic election cycle in 2024, punctuated by the push within the party to convince President Biden to end his reelection run after a dismal debate performance in June. While Mr. Biden eventually ended his bid in July and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place at the top of the ticket, the 107-day sprint that followed resulted in Democrats losing the White House and Senate while failing, albeit narrowly, to win control of the House.
Now the party is essentially leaderless and preparing for an emboldened Donald Trump to return to Washington, where he’ll be able to benefit from Republicans’ unified control of Congress and the White House. Those dynamics will be well in play at the time of the election for DNC chair on Feb. 1 given the unease among Democrats that has been abundantly clear in the weeks following the presidential election.
“I want to see someone who doesn’t come from the Washington circuit, who actually has been out there in the tissue of the country,” Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a battleground district Democrat, said of the DNC chair race.
Failure can mean opportunity. The party’s struggles means O’Malley, as well as other ambitious Democrats, have a chance to become the next chair and carry wide ranging influence during a critical time for the party as it looks to regain ground in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election. For all his apparent vulnerabilities, Trump was far more successful in this election than ever before, winning all seven presidential battlegrounds. Whether what happened in 2024 will become a tangible turning point for Democrats is likely to loom over the chair race in the coming weeks.
“That’s the big shift that’s happened with this election going the wrong way on us,” O’Malley said. “We’re now in a mode of needing a changemaker, not a caretaker.”
Among those running for chair, Ken Martin, the leader of Minnesota’s arm of the Democratic Party and a DNC vice chair, as well as Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, are seen as frontrunners. Martin has deep relationships within the DNC and can boast a statewide winning streak for candidates in Minnesota, while Wikler carries the political gravitas of helping lead the party in one of the nation’s seven presidential battlegrounds.
Earlier this month, Martin announced a framework which includes his drive for a “Democratic infrastructure in all 3,244 counties,” across the country, as well as taking on the branding problem evident from the 2024 election results.
“The majority of Americans now believe the Republican Party best represents the interests of the working class and the poor, and the Democratic Party is the party of the wealthy and the elites,” Martin said in his framework. “It’s a damning indictment on our party brand. We must be willing to dig deep and recenter the Democratic agenda to unite families across race, age, background, and class.”
During a brief pitch to party leaders at a meeting in Washington D.C. last week where Martin and O’Malley also spoke, Wikler told his fellow Democrats “we need to build the battle plan to change how we communicate, so we show what we mean when we say we fight for working folks.”
This isn’t the first time O’Malley has been linked to leading the party. Days after the 2016 election, he posted on social media that despite encouragement, he would not run for chair. Eight years later, he’s navigating a short window to make his case as he emphasizes his lengthy career in politics.
O’Malley served as mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007 and went on to win two terms as governor of Maryland, which included a stint leading the Democratic Governors Association. His political power has faded since then however, illustrated most notably by the struggles he faced during his campaign for president in the 2016 Democratic primary. Before announcing his run for chair, O’Malley spent nearly a year working in the federal government as commissioner of Social Security.
That experience is intertwined in O’Malley’s platform, which also calls for creating “a feedback loop for our local and state elected officials to ensure that they can help inform our messaging and tactics.”
“We all know we need to restore our credibility,” O’Malley said. “We need to learn from our failings, as well as our candidates who succeeded. But only one of us [in the race for DNC chair] has actually proven an ability to effectuate a rapid turnaround like we need to do right now in order to win the next election.”
contributed to this report.
In the final days of his administration, President Biden has set a new climate goal for slashing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. However, it comes as his successor, President-elect Donald Trump, has signaled he is not interested in global climate negotiations.
The U.S. formally submitted its new goal Thursday to the United Nations. It calls for a 61% to 66% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, the White House said, with an overarching goal of achieving net zero emissions by no later than 2050.
The new goal is part of the Paris Agreement, under which member nations must update their emission cut targets — known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs — every five years.
The Paris accord requires countries to set voluntary targets for reducing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The only binding requirement is that nations accurately report on their efforts. First signed in 2016 by nearly 200 nations, it seeks to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The new climate commitment “marks an ambitious capstone to President Biden’s climate legacy,” the White House said in a news release, adding that it will help grow a new clean energy economy focused on investment, innovation, and jobs.
“The United States’ new climate commitment offers a clear path forward for states, cities, businesses, and other leaders dedicated to ramping up action over the next four years,” said Debbie Weyl, U.S. acting director for the nonprofit environmental group the World Resource Institute, in a statement. “Even though the Trump administration may not lift a finger to deliver on this plan, it sets a north star for what the U.S. should be aiming for and could help guide the federal government’s priorities once Trump leaves office in 2029,” Weyl said.
In 2017, then-President Trump announced he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, a process which took until nearly the end of his first term to complete. However, Mr. Biden fulfilled a campaign vow by rejoining the Paris Agreement on the first day of his own administration in early 2021.
Trump has long championed the fossil fuel industry, questioned the science of climate change and weakened other environmental protections.
This year, his campaign said Trump would pull the U.S. from the Paris Agreement a second time.
Last month in Azerbaijan at the annual United Nations climate summit known as COP29, participants adopted a $300 billion annual deal that will go towards helping developing countries wean themselves off coal, oil and gas, and help them adapt to future warming and pay for the damage caused by climate change’s extreme weather.
Mary Cunningham and
contributed to this report.
Health insurers limit coverage of prosthetic limbs, questioning their medical necessity
DNC chair candidate Martin O’Malley says Democrats need to learn from “very bad loss”
Biden sets new climate goal for slashing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions
Health insurers limit coverage of prosthetic limbs, questioning their medical necessity
DNC chair candidate Martin O’Malley says Democrats need to learn from “very bad loss”