51 Billion to Zero
Balance the budget. Fund the transition. Reach net zero.
Your national budget
Starting mix: U.S. federal FY2024, grouped into major programs. Select a pie slice or row, then adjust its annual budget. Interest and climate damage are automatic.
Total federal receipts as a share of GDP, not a personal income-tax bracket. Higher taxes reduce borrowing but weigh on growth and employment.
Where climate funding goes
Priority 0 turns a sector off. Higher priorities receive more funding. Research and deployment are managed together; 10% of the climate envelope (up to 0.5% GDP) trains workers, and operating systems need upkeep first.
Before you commit
Cabinet dispatch
Description
Lead a fictional climate cabinet from 51 billion tons of annual emissions to net zero. The emissions challenge is global; the national budget is a U.S.-inspired analogy. This is a strategy game, not a forecast of U.S. policy or a claim that the United States emits 51 billion tons.
Instructions
- Select a spending slice and change its budget. Raise or lower taxes to change revenue. Borrowing covers any gap; surpluses repay debt.
- Choose sector priorities. Research makes clean alternatives affordable and unlocks construction. Build clean electricity early, and use carbon removal for the last residual emissions.
- Review next quarter's forecast, then advance. Reach zero before the deadline while staying below the debt and unemployment limits.
Budget sources and model assumptions
The initial budget groups CBO's FY2024 figures: Social Security $1,448B, Medicare $870B, Medicaid $618B, Defense Department military spending $826B, net interest $949B, and remaining spending $2,041B. The game carves a fictional $100B climate envelope out of that remainder; it is not a measured total of federal climate programs. Starting revenue is 17.1% GDP. Values are rounded, with a $28.766T reference economy. Interest changes with debt; climate damage grows with cumulative emissions. State/local budgets and individual tax brackets are omitted.
Source: CBO Monthly Budget Review, FY2024. Research, economic responses, service-cut penalties, funding capacity, and failure limits are gameplay assumptions. Cutting services and raising taxes have modeled jobs/growth costs; those equations are not empirical estimates. Unused climate capacity remains committed budget, not an extra emissions benefit. Occasional events are excluded from the preview.
Sector framing is inspired by Bill Gates's How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: industry 31%, power 27%, agriculture 19%, transportation 16%, buildings 7%. Installed systems keep working; underfunded upkeep reduces growth. Carbon removal needs clean power and has a 4 Gt/year maximum. Demand is held constant.
Existing campaign technology and emissions progress are preserved when loading the budget update. Old economic balances remain fictional; starting a new campaign uses the new U.S.-inspired economy. Progress saves in this browser. A new campaign replaces it.