A new era in climate policy?

Nearly 70% of registered voters in the United States say they consider climate change to be an important issue in deciding how to cast their vote for president, according to the Pew Research Center in 2020.

Now president, Joe Biden is preparing to deal with climate change in a way no previous president has before — he is mapping out an aggressive “all hands on deck” which can be seen in his appointments for his climate team.

Infographic by Lela Johnson

What should Biden be prioritizing? 

Biden speaks often of tackling climate change with a comprehensive government approach; the solution comes down to three areas. If the U.S. federal government can put policies in place to address these three main sources of planet-warming greenhouse gases, we will drastically cut our emissions and reach our 2035 goals.
The third main source of planet warming greenhouse gases is the U.S. economy is leaking methane emissions from oil and gas wells. While methane emissions pale in comparison to carbon dioxide emissions, methane has 50 times the heat trapping power of CO2.
Pollution from cars accounts for a third of the United States’ planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. However, because of companies like GM who pledge to exclusively sell electric cars by 2035, the future for fuel economy standards is looking up.
Electricity production accounts for the second largest share of greehouse gas emissions. Plans to address regulations surrounding coal plants and transition to wind and solar energy have been legally unresolved for several years.

Trump-era rollbacks

During the four years of Trump’s presidency, he wasted no time in unraveling Obama’s environmental regulations as promised on the campaign trail. While Biden has ordered a review of all 100 of Trump's rules and regulations, in some cases, it could take two or three years to put them back in place.
98
Completed
14
In progress
112
Total
98
Completed
14
In progress
112
Total
Air pollution and emissions
Drilling and extraction
Infrastructure and planning
Animals
Water pollution
Toxic substances and safety
Other
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14

Core climate team

Biden pulled together a team that prioritizes creating clean energy jobs and environmental protection a primary concern for economic policy.
Former two-term Michigan governor
Advocate for renewable energy jobs
Would be the first Native American to run the department charged with overseeing federal and tribal lands
Heads the National Resources Defense Council
Ran the EPA during
the Obama administration
Helped negotiate and signed the Paris climate agreement
Plans to encourage other nations to increase their commitments
Spent decades working on environmental issues within and outside of the government
Oversees state agency tasked with protecting North Carolina's natural resources
Former South Bend mayor
Plans to stiffen emissions standards and promote electric vehicles

Core Biden plan
components

Infrastructure
Auto industry
Transit
Innovation
Power sector
Housing
Buildings
Agriculture
Environmental justice
"Create millions of good, union jobs rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure — from roads and bridges to green spaces and water systems to electricity grids and universal broadband — to lay a new foundation for sustainable growth, compete in the global economy, withstand the impacts of climate change, and improve public health, including access to clean air and clean water."
"Create 1 million new jobs in the American auto industry, domestic auto supply chains, and auto infrastructure, from parts to materials to electric vehicle charging stations, positioning American auto workers and manufacturers to win the 21st century; and invest in U.S. auto workers to ensure their jobs are good jobs with a choice to join a union."
"Provide every American city with 100,000 or more residents with high-quality, zero-emissions public transportation options through flexible federal investments with strong labor protections that create good, union jobs and meet the needs of these cities — ranging from light rail networks to improving existing transit and bus lines to installing infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists."
"Drive dramatic cost reductions in critical clean energy technologies, including battery storage, negative emissions technologies, the next generation of building materials, renewable hydrogen, and advanced nuclear – and rapidly commercialize them, ensuring that those new technologies are made in America."
"Move ambitiously to generate clean, American-made electricity to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. This will enable us to meet the existential threat of climate change while creating millions of jobs with a choice to join a union."
"Spur the construction of 1.5 million sustainable homes and housing units."
"Upgrade 4 million buildings and weatherize 2 million homes over 4 years, creating at least 1 million good-paying jobs with a choice to join a union; and also spur the building retrofit and efficient-appliance manufacturing supply chain by funding direct cash rebates and low-cost financing to upgrade and electrify home appliances and install more efficient windows, which will cut residential energy bills."
"Create jobs in climate-smart agriculture, resilience, and conservation, including 250,000 jobs plugging abandoned oil and natural gas wells and reclaiming abandoned coal, hardrock, and uranium mines — providing good work with a choice to join or continue membership in a union in hard hit communities, including rural communities, reducing leakage of toxics, and preventing local environmental damage."
"Ensure that environmental justice is a key consideration in where, how, and with whom we build — creating good, union, middle-class jobs in communities left behind, righting wrongs in communities that bear the brunt of pollution, and lifting up the best ideas from across our great nation — rural, urban, and tribal."

A new era in climate policy?

Beginning on day one of his presidency, Biden implemented a slew of executive orders designed to speedily contend with, among other issues, climate change.
Rejoin the Paris Agreement

Host the Leaders' Climate Summit

Created the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
Pausing new federal oil leases
such as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Reserve 30 percent of federal land and water
Restore several national monuments
whose footprints were reduced under Trump administration
Electrifying government's vast fleet of vehicles
Task force aimed at economically reviving
communities dependent on the fossil fuel industry

Components of Biden’s
two trillion dollar plan

Titled “the Biden plan to build a modern, sustainable infrastructure and an equitable clean energy future,” the following goals are intended to set the U.S. on course to achieve net-zero emissions in just under three decades.
Complete
Unlikely
Rejoin the Paris Agreement, committing US to international carbon emission goals                     2021
100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions                                                                                2050
Upgrade four million buildings to meet the highest standards for energy efficiency                      2035
Prevailing wage employment and union jobs to build 1.5 million energy efficient homes             2024
Seal off one million leaking oil and gas wells
Fuel efficiency standards
Install half a million new electric-vehicle charging stations
Double offshore wind infrastructure
Create one million auto manufacturing jobs                                                                                                2030
Carbon pollution-free power sector

Feasible or not feasible?

Double offshore wind infrastructure
Legislation targeting pollution from power plants has been stuck in the U.S. court system; as demonstrated by Obama’s Clean Power Plan, it can’t pass through the Senate without 60 votes or a majority conservation Supreme Court.
Create one million auto manufacturing jobs
While tighter fuel efficiency standards are now feasible with increased support from the auto industry, according to some economists, doubling the auto manufacturing industry with auto emissions regulations in place is a lofty goal.

Biden Plan vs. Green New Deal

While Biden’s campaign gained plenty of traction among environmental groups, his plan is still lacking compared to their own ideal agendas. Not to mention the Democratic Party also received about $900,000 in campaign donations from people associated with the oil and gas industry. We have to question where exactly Biden’s motives lie.
Key differences
Biden’s plan avoids banning fracking, the process of extracting oil and natural gas from the earth through drilling.

Biden does not plan to phase out nuclear power.

Biden’s timeline is much longer and more accommodating of what some say are realistic goals.

Biden’s plan does not incorporate Medicare for All.
Key differences
Nearly 60 percent of American crude oil is produced by fracking; a ban would cost $7.1 trillion and 7.5 million jobs. “The U.S. would flip from being a net exporter of oil and petroleum products to importing more than 40% of supplies by 2030,” according to the American Petroleum Institute.
Con of Biden’s approach:
However, transitioning to renewable energy is a cornerstone of all environmental group plans to combat climate change because of how quickly and effectively it would alleviate reliance on fossil fuels.

According to many scientists and climate activists, an irreversible climate disaster is inevitable if the U.S. continues to rely on fossil fuels.

Congress stimulus deal

Congress agreed on a $35 billion deal functioning as a down payment for Biden’s plan.
Authorizes funding for energy efficiency projects
Authorizes upgrades to the electric grid
Authorizes tax credit extensions and new R&D programs intended for solar, wind and energy storage
Authorizes new commitment to research on removing carbon from atmosphere
Reauthorizes EPA program to curb emissions from diesel engines
Fund for low-income families to install renewable energy sources in their homes
Cut the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
Chemicals used in air conditioners and refrigerators that are hundreds of times worse for the climate than CO2

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/climate/biden-epa.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/climate/automakers-climate-change.html

http://theconversation.com/biden-plans-to-fight-climate-change-in-a-way-no-u-s-president-has-done-before-152419

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/climate/biden-climate-executive-orders.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/climate/biden-climate-change.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/biden-climate-environment/

https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03250-z

https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/everything-you-need-know-about-fastest-growing-source-global-emissions-transport

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/here-s-full-list-biden-s-executive-actions-so-far-n1255564

http://theconversation.com/how-biden-and-kerry-could-rebuild-americas-global-climate-leadership-150120

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/climate/climate-change-biden-kerry.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-sign-executive-actions-climate-change-n1255814

https://www.marketplace.org/2020/10/16/oil-gas-companies-election-donations-democrats-biden-chevron-exxon-mobil/

https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-biden-climate-change-advice/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/climate/biden-climate-change.html

https://joebiden.com/clean-energy/.

https://rhg.com/research/the-rollback-of-us-climate-policy/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/climate/black-farmers-discrimination-agriculture.html

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-democrats-cant-do-as-long-as-the-filibuster-remains-in-place-and-what-they-can/

A new era
in climate policy?

Nearly 70% of registered voters in the United States say they consider climate change to be an important issue in deciding how to cast their vote for president, according to the Pew Research Center in 2020.

Now president, Joe Biden is preparing to deal with climate change in a way no previous president has before – he is mapping out an aggressive “all hands on deck” approach made apparent by who he has chosen to combat the climate crisis alongside his administration.

What should Biden be prioritizing? 

Biden speaks often of tackling climate change with a comprehensive government approach, but the solution comes down to three areas. If the U.S. federal government can put policies in place to address these three main sources of planet warming greenhouse gases, we will drastically cut our emissions and reach our 2035 goals.
The third main source of planet warming greenhouse gases is the U.S. economy is leaking methane emissions from oil and gas wells. While methane emissions pale in comparison to carbon dioxide emissions, methane has 50 times the heat trapping power of CO2.
Pollution from cars accounts for a third of the United States’ planet warming greenhouse gas emissions. However, because of companies like GM who pledge to exclusively sell electric cars by 2035, the future for fuel economy standards is looking up.
Electricity production accounts for the second largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. Plans to address regulations surrounding coal plants and transition to wind and solar energy have been legally unresolved for several years.

Trump-era rollbacks

During the four years of Trump’s presidency, he wasted no time in unraveling Obama’s environmental regulations as promised on the campaign trail. While Biden has ordered a review of all 100 rules and regulations, in some cases, it could take two or three years to put them back in place.
98
Complete
14
In progress
112
Total
98
Completed
14
In progress
112
Total
Air pollution and emissions
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14
Drilling and extraction
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14
Infrastructure and planning
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14
Animals
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14
Water pollution
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14
Toxic substances and safety
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14
Other
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14
Completed
28
12
14
15
8
9
12
In progress
2
7
0
1
1
1
2
Total
30
19
14
16
9
10
14

Core climate team

Biden pulled together a team that prioritizes creating clean energy jobs and environmental protection a primary concern for economic policy.
Former two-term Michigan governor
Advocate for renewable energy jobs
Heads the National Resources Defense Council
Ran the EPA during the Obama administration
Would be the first Native American to run the department charged with overseeing federal and tribal lands
Spent decades working on environmental issues within and outside of the government
Helped negotiate and signed the Paris climate agreement
Plans to encourage other nations to increase their commitments
Oversees state agency tasked with protecting North Carolina's natural resources
Former South Bend mayor
Plans to stiffen emissions standards and promote electric vehicles

Core Biden plan
components

Infrastructure
"Create millions of good, union jobs rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure – from roads and bridges to green spaces and water systems to electricity grids and universal broadband – to lay a new foundation for sustainable growth, compete in the global economy, withstand the impacts of climate change, and improve public health, including access to clean air and clean water."
Auto industry
"Create 1 million new jobs in the American auto industry, domestic auto supply chains, and auto infrastructure, from parts to materials to electric vehicle charging stations, positioning American auto workers and manufacturers to win the 21st century; and invest in U.S. auto workers to ensure their jobs are good jobs with a choice to join a union."
Transit
"Provide every American city with 100,000 or more residents with high-quality, zero-emissions public transportation options through flexible federal investments with strong labor protections that create good, union jobs and meet the needs of these cities – ranging from light rail networks to improving existing transit and bus lines to installing infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists."
Innovation
"Drive dramatic cost reductions in critical clean energy technologies, including battery storage, negative emissions technologies, the next generation of building materials, renewable hydrogen, and advanced nuclear – and rapidly commercialize them, ensuring that those new technologies are made in America."
Power sector
"Move ambitiously to generate clean, American-made electricity to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. This will enable us to meet the existential threat of climate change while creating millions of jobs with a choice to join a union."
Housing
"Spur the construction of 1.5 million sustainable homes and housing units."
Buildings
"Upgrade 4 million buildings and weatherize 2 million homes over 4 years, creating at least 1 million good-paying jobs with a choice to join a union; and also spur the building retrofit and efficient-appliance manufacturing supply chain by funding direct cash rebates and low-cost financing to upgrade and electrify home appliances and install more efficient windows, which will cut residential energy bills."
Agriculture
"Create jobs in climate-smart agriculture, resilience, and conservation, including 250,000 jobs plugging abandoned oil and natural gas wells and reclaiming abandoned coal, hardrock, and uranium mines – providing good work with a choice to join or continue membership in a union in hard hit communities, including rural communities, reducing leakage of toxics, and preventing local environmental damage."
Environmental justice
"Ensure that environmental justice is a key consideration in where, how, and with whom we build – creating good, union, middle-class jobs in communities left behind, righting wrongs in communities that bear the brunt of pollution, and lifting up the best ideas from across our great nation – rural, urban, and tribal."

A new era in climate policy?

Beginning on day one of his presidency, Biden implemented a slew of executive orders designed to speedily contend with, among other issues, climate change.
Rejoin the Paris Agreement

Host the Leaders' Climate Summit

Created the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
Pausing new federal oil leases
such as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Reserve 30 percent of federal land and water
Restore several national monuments
whose footprints were reduced under Trump administration
Electrifying government's vast fleet of vehicles
Task force aimed at economically reviving
communities dependent on the fossil fuel industry

Components of Biden’s
two trillion dollar plan

Titled “the Biden plan to build a modern, sustainable infrastructure and an equitable clean energy future,” the following goals are intended to set the U.S. on course to achieve net-zero emissions in just under three decades.
Complete
Unlikely
Rejoin the Paris Agreement, committing US to international carbon emission goals by 2021
100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050
Upgrade four million buildings to meet the highest standards for energy efficiency by 2035
Prevailing wage employment and union jobs to build 1.5 million energy efficient homes by 2024
Seal off one million leaking oil and gas wells
Fuel efficiency standards
Install half a million new electric-vehicle charging stations
Double offshore wind infrastructure
Create one million auto manufacturing jobs                                                                                                2030
Carbon pollution-free power sector

Feasible or not feasible?

Double offshore wind infrastructure
Legislation targeting pollution from power plants has been stuck in the U.S. court system; as demonstrated by Obama’s Clean Power Plan, it can’t pass through the Senate without 60 votes or a majority conservation Supreme Court.
Create one million auto manufacturing jobs
While tighter fuel efficiency standards are now feasible with increased support from the auto industry, according to some economists, doubling the auto manufacturing industry with auto emissions regulations in place is a lofty goal.

Biden Plan vs. Green New Deal

While Biden’s campaign gained plenty of traction among environmental groups, his plan is still lacking compared to their own ideal agendas. Not to mention the Democratic Party also received about $900,000 in campaign donations from people associated with the oil and gas industry. We have to question where exactly Biden’s motives lie.
Key differences
Biden’s plan avoids banning fracking, the process of extracting oil and natural gas from the earth through drilling.

Biden does not plan to phase out nuclear power.

Biden’s timeline is much longer and more accommodating of what some say are realistic goals.

Biden’s plan does not incorporate Medicare for All.
Key differences
Nearly 60 percent of American crude oil is produced by fracking; a ban would cost $7.1 trillion and 7.5 million jobs. “The U.S. would flip from being a net exporter of oil and petroleum products to importing more than 40% of supplies by 2030,” according to the American Petroleum Institute.
Con of Biden’s approach:
However, transitioning to renewable energy is a cornerstone of all environmental group plans to combat climate change because of how quickly and effectively it would alleviate reliance on fossil fuels.

According to many scientists and climate activists, an irreversible climate disaster is inevitable if the U.S. continues to rely on fossil fuels.

Congress stimulus deal

Congress agreed on a $35 billion deal functioning as a down payment for Biden’s plan.
Authorizes funding for energy efficiency projects
Authorizes upgrades to the electric grid
Authorizes tax credit extensions and new R&D programs intended for solar, wind and energy storage
Authorizes new commitment to research on removing carbon from atmosphere
Reauthorizes EPA program to curb emissions from diesel engines
Fund for low-income families to install renewable energy sources in their homes
Cut the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
Chemicals used in air conditioners and refrigerators that are hundreds of times worse for the climate than CO2

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/climate/biden-epa.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/climate/automakers-climate-change.html

http://theconversation.com/biden-plans-to-fight-climate-change-in-a-way-no-u-s-president-has-done-before-152419

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/climate/biden-climate-executive-orders.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/climate/biden-climate-change.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/biden-climate-environment/

https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03250-z

https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/everything-you-need-know-about-fastest-growing-source-global-emissions-transport

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/here-s-full-list-biden-s-executive-actions-so-far-n1255564

http://theconversation.com/how-biden-and-kerry-could-rebuild-americas-global-climate-leadership-150120

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/climate/climate-change-biden-kerry.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-sign-executive-actions-climate-change-n1255814

https://www.marketplace.org/2020/10/16/oil-gas-companies-election-donations-democrats-biden-chevron-exxon-mobil/

https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-biden-climate-change-advice/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/climate/biden-climate-change.html

https://joebiden.com/clean-energy/.

https://rhg.com/research/the-rollback-of-us-climate-policy/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/climate/black-farmers-discrimination-agriculture.html

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-democrats-cant-do-as-long-as-the-filibuster-remains-in-place-and-what-they-can/