Environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration

Environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration
The environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration includes a series of laws, regulations, and programs introduced by United States President Joe Biden since he took office in January 2021. Many of the actions taken by the Biden administration reversed the policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
By July 2022, the Biden administration had created 54 environmental policies and proposed 43 more.
Biden's climate change policy focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as under the Obama administration. On his first day in office he rejoined the Paris Agreement. In April 2021, he hosted a virtual climate summit with 40 world leaders. In November 2021, Biden and other world leaders met at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to negotiate goals to reduce global warming. After four years of absence under the former president, the U.S. sought to regain its credibility. The main climate target of the Biden administration is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States to net zero by 2050. John Kerry leads the effort as Special Envoy for Climate.
On his first day in office, Biden began to make policy changes to protect the environment. He began revising and strengthening the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and ordered a number of executive orders aimed at reviewing or undoing the environmental policies of the former administration, including removal of some wildlife protections, the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and drilling for oil and gas on federal lands. He promised to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030. As a first step in recognizing the impact of climate change on less developed nations—an impact which is largely the result of years of environmental damage caused by nations which have prospered—Biden signed an executive order to study the effects of climate change's impact on migration, including "options for protection and resettlement." Biden appointed Pete Buttigieg as the Secretary of Transportation, and he is expected to work with the administration to reduce carbon emissions with plans such as improved public transportation, building a national network of electric vehicle chargers, and other strategies to reduce emissions.
The Biden administration delivered a tax plan to congress that aims to start winding back fossil fuel subsidies, replacing the subsidies with incentives to start producing green energy. His proposed budget includes a 30% increase in clean energy research and development, $2 billion to be invested in green energy projects and $6.5 billion to lend to rural communities in support of additional green energy, power storage, and transmission projects. Biden has ordered the amount of energy produced from offshore wind turbines to be doubled by 2030.
In August 2022, Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which includes the largest federal climate change investment in American history ($391 billion). With this law and additional federal and state measures, the USA can fulfill its pledge in Paris agreement: 50% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by the year 2030.
Climate change
Climate team personnel as of 2021
, the following officials compose Joe Biden's climate team:
Climate change policies
The final target of the administration is reaching carbon neutrality in the United States by 2050. Joe Biden sees climate change as an "existential threat", a view supported by most in the scientific community. During his inauguration, Biden said: "A cry for survival comes from the planet itself, a cry that can't be any more desperate or any more clear." However, some activists have criticized the administration's policies for being insufficient to prevent catastrophic climate change. Democratic control of the United States Congress raises the chances that the administration will be able to pass climate-related legislation, although members like Senator Joe Manchin hold key voting positions and could block proposed bills from passing the Senate.
Biden's climate plan changed significantly in 2020. In the beginning, it was criticized by many environmental groups as not being aggressive enough or even being detrimental contrary to prior stances on climate. Biden consulted with them, mainly through the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Forces, and included many of their recommendations in his plans, after which it received more support.
The administration set a target of achieving zero emissions from the power sector by 2035. Other sectors with considerable emissions are agriculture and construction. Biden's climate plan includes a strong increase in green building. According to the plan, 4 million buildings in the United States should be upgraded, as well as 2 million weatherized in the next 4 years. This is expected to create 1 million green jobs. The entire climate plan is expected to create 10 million green jobs. This number is smaller than other proposals like the Green New Deal, which claims to guarantee a job for every American.
Biden ordered the director of national intelligence Avril Haines to prepare a report about the impacts of climate change. Biden also included John Kerry – the Climate Envoy – in the National Security Council. He created a National Climate Task Force and the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy. He said: "In my view, we've already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis and we can't wait any longer. We see it with our own eyes, we feel it, we know it in our bones." and "it's time to act". He also mentioned that climate action is linked with other aspects of his agenda such as health, jobs, and security.
As of August 2021, some calculations suppose that the infrastructure bill, the budget reconciliation bill, if passed, will cut emissions by 45% by 2030. Administrative orders from Biden and some states should increase the reduction to 50%.
In September 2021, the EPA planned to issue its final rule to reduce hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions by 85% within 15 years. HFCs are greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more potent than .
In December 2021, Biden signed an executive order directing the US government to cut its own emission by 65% by 2030 with different measures including energy efficiency, electric vehicles and renewable energy.
Social cost of carbon
On the first day of his presidency, Biden signed an order directing a return to the Obama-era policy of taking into account the social cost of carbon when implementing new regulations, a practice that the Trump administration abandoned in 2017. In February 2021, Biden raised the social cost of carbon in the US to $51 per ton, replacing the lower Trump Administration's estimates with the estimates developed under President Obama. This figure has an impact on EPA regulations but not on the fuel price. Carbon pricing is already in operation in a few US states. The $51 estimate is announced to be evaluated. It is lower than the EU carbon price but higher than the Chinese carbon price. The administration has set the social cost of methane at $1,500 per tonne.
In March 2022, the court allowed the Biden administration to use the social cost of carbon, reversing a previous court ruling.
Climate legislation
In the years 2021-2022 Biden promoted 2 bills that can reduce the US greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% from the level of 2005: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Build Back Better Act. The Build Back Better act faced strong opposition in the Senate and was not approved. The group of experts who made the analysis said that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act alone will make only a small reduction in emissions, but they did not count at all the impact of measures regarding highways and public transport. The bill includes the largest federal investment in public transit in history. The bill includes spending of 105 billion dollars in public transport. It also give 110 billion on fixing roads and bridges what includes measures for climate change mitigation - access for cyclists and pedestrians.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was approved by the Congress and signed by Biden into law in November 2021.
In August 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains the largest climate investment by the U.S. federal government in history, including over $391 billion to reduce carbon emissions. The bill, passing by a 51–50 vote in the Senate, explicitly defined carbon dioxide as an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act to make the Act's EPA enforcement provisions harder to challenge in court. With this law approved and additional federal and state measures, the USA can fulfill its pledge in Paris agreement: 50% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by the year 2030.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Biden's infrastructure plan is also a major pillar in his climate policy. The plan includes measures for reaching carbon neutrality in the electricity sector, supporting electric vehicles, and promoting energy efficiency on a very large scale. The plan should cost $2.3trillion. If passed, it can have a large influence on the Greenhouse gas emissions of the United States. The plan, according to Biden's administration, should help rebuild the American economy and create millions of jobs. Biden's administration claims that economic and climate issues are linked.
In June 2021 Biden and a group of democratic and republican senators agreed on a compromise; a $973 billion bill. According to an official press release "The Plan is the largest federal investment in public transit in history and is the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak." According to the document this should lower the GHG emission of the US.
On 10 of August the bill was approved by the Senate. 19 Republican senators, including Mitch McConnell, voted for it, despite criticism from Donald Trump, who called it "the beginning of the Green New Deal". The bill includes spending of 105 billion dollars for public transit, $21 billion for environmental projects, $50 billion for water storage, $15 billion for electric vehicles. 73 billion dollars will be spent on power infrastructure what includes its adjustment to renewable energy. $110 billion will be spent on fixing roads and bridges what includes measures for climate change mitigation - access for cyclists and pedestrians. The plan also includes $1 billion for better connection of neighborhoods separated by transport infrastructure. According to Biden's administration the plan should add 2 million jobs per year.
Build Back Better Act
A potential $23 billion worth of tax credits for nuclear generating plants are included in the proposed bill while the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which became law included modest amounts to support older plants and DOE's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ADRP).
Inflation Reduction Act
The law is considered as the most important climate legislation in the history of the USA. It is expected to also make some impact internationally, repositioning the country as climate leader. It represents the largest investment into addressing climate change in United States history, including more than $391 billion to reduce carbon emissions. According to several independent analyses, the law is projected to reduce 2030 U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 2005 levels.
The bill aims to decrease residential energy costs by focusing on improvements to home energy efficiency. Measures include $9 billion in home energy rebate programs that focus on improving access to energy efficient technologies, and 10 years of consumer tax credits for the use of heat pumps, rooftop solar, and high-efficiency electric heating, ventilation, air conditioning and water heating. The bill extends the $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of new electric vehicles while also providing a $4,000 tax credit toward the purchase of used electric vehicles, in an effort to increase low- and middle-income access to this technology. This is projected to lead to an average of $500 in savings on energy spending for every family that receives the maximal benefit of these incentives.
The bill includes a 30% tax credit ($1,200 to $2,000 per year) and different types of rebates (reaching $14,000) for homeowners who will increase the energy efficiency of their house. In some cases, all upgrade expenses will be returned.
The bill allocates $3 billion for helping disadvantaged communities with transportation matters, including reconnecting communities separated by transport infrastructure, assuring safe and affordable transportation "and community engagement activities." This should improve clean transit. Projects improving connectivity and walkability in these neighborhoods can get grants reaching 80%-100% of the overall cost. The bill also supports biking.
There are also funds allocated to national clean energy production. This includes the continuation of the production tax credit ($30 billion) and investment tax credit ($10 billion) toward clean energy manufacturing, including solar power, wind power, and energy storage.
The bill also provides funds toward the decarbonization of the economy in other areas, providing various tax credits and grants toward decarbonizing the industrial and transportation sectors. This also includes a program to reduce methane emissions from production and transportation of natural gas. The bill also provides for a focus on communities and environmental justice by providing several grants targeting historically marginalized and disadvantaged communities that have been disproportionally impacted by environmental pollution and climate change.
The bill also allocates funds for rural communities and forestland, including $20 billion to invest in climate-smart agriculture, $5 billion in forest conservation and urban tree planting and $2.6 billion to protect and restore coastal habitats.
The bill should cut the global greenhouse gas emissions in a level similar to "eliminating the annual planet-warming pollution of France and Germany combined" and may help to limit the warming of the planet to 1.5 degrees - the target of the Paris Agreement. With the bill and additional federal and state measures, the USA can fulfill its pledge in Paris agreement: 50% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by the year 2030.
An assessment by the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm, estimated it would reduce national greenhouse gas emissions 32–42% below 2005 levels by 2030, compared to 24–35% under current policy while reducing household energy costs and improving energy security. Furthermore, Rhodium Group projects that the nuclear provisions in the bill are likely to "keep much, if not all" of the nation's nuclear reactors that are at risk of retiring, estimated to be 22–38% of the fleet, online through the 2030s.
A preliminary analysis by the REPEAT Project of Princeton University estimated that the investments made by the law would reduce net emissions 42% below 2005 levels, compared to 27% under current policies (including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law).
The nonpartisan Energy Innovation Group estimated the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at 37–41% below 2005 levels in 2030, compared to 24% without the bill. This estimate of the greenhouse gas emission reduction lines up with the figure provided by the bill's authors which is a 40% reduction in carbon emissions relative to 2005 levels.
Modeling from the nonpartisan research institution Resources for the Future indicates the bill would decrease retail power costs by 5.2–6.7% over a ten-year period, resulting in savings of $170–220 per year for the average U.S. household. Also that the bill would tend to stabilize electricity prices.
In reaction to the Supreme Court case West Virginia v. EPA, which limited the EPA's authority to institute a program such as the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, Title VI of the IRA amended the Clean Air Act to explicitly designate carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride as air pollutants to unambiguously provide the EPA congressional authorization to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, as well as to promote renewable energy.
Adaptation to climate change
Biden's administration spent a lot of effort on flood management and increasing climate resilience as a whole especially in communities discriminated before. In June 2023, $575 million were allocated to help coastal and Great Lakes communities, including Tribal communities, to adapt to climate change. The measures include protecting coastal ecosystems that protect communities from sea level rise, storm surge, and more. When Biden announced the allocation, he mentioned one of the nature reserves of California, saying: “These wetlands act as a critical buffer between the rising tides and the communities at risk”
In 2023 an agreement between seven states was achieved, aiming to preserve the Colorado River water system from collapse due to poor management and climate change. The country is heavily depending on this river. Some states will reduce water use, receiving compensation for it ($1.2 billion), from the federal government. Many other projects for preserving the river like water recycling, rain harvesting, are advanced. The funding is coming from the Bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Domestic action
In May 2022 the White House Council on Environmental Quality released a report in which it describes how Biden's administration followed the around 200 recommendations of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. The full report has around 150 pages. The report summarizes many of the steps taken by the administration in the environmental domain. Among others, it mentions:
Unprecedented funding for Energy efficiency and Weatherization.
Promoting Transit-oriented development, Walking, Cycling, Mixed-use development.
Promoting cooperation with Indigenous peoples of the Americas in environmental issues.
Climate-related financial and green marketing regulation
In February 2021, Acting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Allison Lee announced that the SEC would open a review of climate-related disclosures for public companies to update regulatory guidance the agency issued in 2010 for such disclosures. In March 2021, the SEC announced that examination of regulatory compliance related to disclosures for climate change and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) would be an area of focus for the agency in 2021, and the SEC also announced the creation of a task force to pursue enforcement cases against investment fund managers and public companies for deceptive marketing for ESG investment funds and for false or misleading statements in climate risk disclosures. In the same month, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Labor Department announced that it would review and not enforce a Trump administration final rule for fiduciaries in proxy voting under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to consider pecuniary interests only and not ESG factors in investments for 401(k)s pursuant to Executive Order 13990, while Acting Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Behnam announced the formation of an agency interdivisional unit to assess the impact of climate risks on futures, options, and other derivatives markets.
In August 2021, the SEC and the Eastern New York U.S. Attorney's Office were reportedly investigating the DWS Group (the asset management division of Deutsche Bank) after its former chief sustainability officer leaked internal emails and company presentations to The Wall Street Journal that showed that the company had overstated its ESG investment efforts. In remarks made by video conference to the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in September 2021, SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated that the agency was preparing recommendations for new disclosure requirements for ESG investment funds, while the SEC released a list of letters sent to the chief financial officers of certain public companies to request that the companies provide greater information to investors about climate risks to financial earnings or business operations. In October 2021, EBSA proposed reversing the Trump administration ERISA final rule for fiduciaries in proxy voting on ESG investments for 401(k)s, while the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) released a report pursuant to Executive Order 14030 that identified climate change as an emerging and increasing threat to the stability of the U.S. financial system.
In November 2021, the SEC rescinded a Trump administration rule issued in 2017 that permitted company managers to exclude ESG proposals from shareholders in annual proxy statements, while Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu stated at a conference hosted by The Wall Street Journal for sustainable business that climate risk guidance for bank stress tests issued by his office would be consistent with stress test principles proposed by the Network for Greening the Financial System. In December 2021, the U.S. Justice Department informed Deutsche Bank that it may have violated its deferred prosecution agreement from the previous January for failing to inform prosecutors of their former chief sustainability officer's internal complaint about the DWS Group's overstating of its ESG investment efforts. In the same month, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a draft regulatory guidance statement to banks for identifying climate risks and for climate risk management (CRM). In March 2022, Deutsche Bank agreed to extend the term of an external compliance monitor until February 2023 from its 2015 settlement with the Justice Department to address its failure to disclose the internal ESG complaint from its former chief sustainability officer the previous August.
Also in March 2022, the SEC approved a rules proposal to require the disclosure of climate risks, CRM policies, and carbon footprint accounting (including the use of carbon offsets) by public companies in 10-K forms and other SEC filings pursuant to Sections 7, 10, 19(a), and 28 of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 3(b), 12, 13, 15, 23(a), and 36 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In May 2022, the SEC extended the public comment window for its climate risk and carbon footprint disclosure rules proposal until June 17, 2022, and proposed two rules changes to ESG investment fund qualifications to prevent greenwashing marketing practices and to increase disclosure requirements for achieving ESG impacts. In June 2022, the CFTC issued a request for information to solicit public comment until October 7, 2022, to inform the agency's response to the recommendations made in the October 2021 FSOC report on climate-related financial risk and hosted a convening for voluntary carbon market participants to discuss improving the credibility of carbon credits, while the SEC was reportedly investigating the ESG investment funds of Goldman Sachs for potential greenwashing.
In August 2022, Section 60111 in Title VI of the Inflation Reduction Act appropriated $5 million to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created under the Clean Air Act in 2009 to support enhanced standardization and transparency of corporate greenhouse gas emission reduction commitment plans and interim targets and to support corporations progress towards implementing such plans and meeting such commitments. In testimony before the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee in September 2022, SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated that public companies subject to the carbon footprint disclosure rule would not be required to solicit carbon footprint accounting from their small business suppliers, while the OCC announced the appointment of a chief climate risk officer who would report directly to the Comptroller. In October 2022, the SEC announced that it would re-open the public comment windows for the climate risk and carbon footprint disclosure rules proposal and for the ESG disclosure rules proposal due to a technical error with the SEC public comment internet submission form.
In November 2022, EBSA announced a final rule removing the Trump administration pecuniary interest only requirement for fiduciaries in proxy voting under ERISA when considering ESG investments for 401(k)s, while Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $4 million to settle the SEC investigation of the company's ESG funds for greenwashing without admitting or denying guilt of the SEC's allegations. In December 2022, the OCC chief climate risk officer stated at a conference hosted by Ceres that the OCC climate risk regulatory guidance for banks was issued to encourage banking institutions to adopt CRM policies and not to promote carbon neutrality pledges, while Title I of Division HH of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 enacted the Growing Climate Solutions Act requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to evaluate and make a determination of whether to create a Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Program that would create a voluntary registry for private businesses, non-profit organizations, or public agencies that act as third-party verifiers of carbon credits for agricultural or forestry carbon offset projects with standardized registration qualifications for participating entities and standardized protocols for ensuring the transparency of carbon credits verified by the registered entities in the program.
Also in December 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it was seeking public comment until February 21, 2023, for potential revisions to agency guidelines made pursuant to Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 for preventing deceptive green marketing practices for claims about carbon offsets, compostability, biodegradability, oxo-biodegradability, photodegradability, ozone safety, recyclability, recycled content, energy use and energy efficiency, organic products, and sustainability. In January 2023, the FTC extended the public comment window for the revisions to its green marketing guidelines until April 24, 2023, while the Federal Reserve announced that the six largest U.S. banks (Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo) would have until July 31, 2023, to complete a pilot climate scenario exercise analysis of climate risks to their loan portfolios and commercial real estate holdings in the Northeastern United States.
In February 2023, the SEC Division of Examinations announced that oversight of ESG investment funds would be among six top priorities for the agency in 2023, while SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated in an interview that the agency was making adjustments to the climate risk and carbon footprint disclosure rule proposed the previous March after the agency received nearly 15,000 public comments on the rule proposal. In March 2023, in the first veto of his administration, Biden rejected a bill passed by the 118th United States Congress on party-line votes to overturn the EBSA ERISA 401(k) fiduciary proxy voting rule for ESG investments finalized the previous November, while SEC Chair Gary Gensler suggested in an interview with the Council of Institutional Investors that the Scope 3 emissions disclosure requirement included in the climate risk and carbon footprint disclosure rules proposal could be scaled back due to Scope 3 emissions accounting being less well-developed, and stated that the climate risk and carbon footprint disclosure rules proposal had received the largest number of public comments for a rule proposal in the agency's history.
Also in March 2023, the FTC announced that it would host a workshop about recycling marketing claims as part of its review for its green marketing guidelines on May 23, 2023. In April 2023, SEC Chair Gary Gensler testified before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on the climate risk and carbon footprint disclosure rules proposal, while in remarks made at an event hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center, CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam stated that the CFTC has the clear legal authority to oversee the carbon credits market to prevent securities fraud and market manipulation (as carbon credits are financial derivatives of an underlying commodity) but not to establish standards for carbon credit registries, and that the CFTC was considering hosting a second convening for voluntary carbon market participants later in the year before formulating an agency policy on carbon credits. In June 2023, the CFTC announced that it would host a second convening the following month and the CFTC Whistleblower Office announced that it was seeking tips for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act in carbon credit markets. In September 2023, SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee that agency staff was reviewing the public comments on the climate risk and carbon footprint accounting rule proposal with a particular focus on Scope 3 reporting and reiterated that the proposed rule would apply only to public companies.
CCS and CDR industry policies
In February 2021, the Biden administration announced that it would steer $30 billion in farm aid from the Commodity Credit Corporation to farmers implementing regenerative farming practices (e.g. carbon farming) to enhance carbon sequestration. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Biden signed into law in November 2021, a $12 billion appropriation was made for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects. In May 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $3.5 billion program funded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to create four large-scale regional direct air capture (DAC) hubs each consisting of a network of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects. Under the CHIPS and Science Act that Biden signed into law in August 2022, a $1 billion appropriation was included to fund CDR research, development, and deployment. Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that Biden also signed into law in August 2022, a $20 billion appropriation was made to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for oversubscribed programs (including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program) to assist farmers with conservation practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to increase carbon sequestration in soil and trees (and other climate-smart agricultural practices).
Also, the IRA authorized the creation of the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) Program, a $5 billion loan guarantee program for projects to repurpose shuttered fossil fuel energy production facilities for clean energy production or to update existing energy production facilities with emissions control technologies including CCS, and also increased the Section 45Q federal tax credit for CCS projects to $85 per metric ton of sequestered from $50 per ton and for DAC projects to $180 per metric ton of permanent CDR from $50 per ton, while the tax credit for the use of captured for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or other uses was increased to $60 per metric ton from $35 per metric ton for CCS and to $130 per metric ton from $35 per metric ton for DAC. In October 2022, the Global CCS Institute (of which the U.S. Department of Energy is a member organization) released a report on the global status of CCS projects that stated that there were 13 operational projects, 68 projects in development, and 2 projects with suspended operations in the United States (among 61 new CCS projects that had been announced over the previous year and 196 projects that were operational or in development worldwide in total).
Energy efficiency
The executive order requiring federal agencies to cut emissions issued on 8 December 2021 contained measures about energy efficiency (sections 205, 206, 605).
By the end of the year 2021, the Joe Biden administration reversed some of the rules established under Trump that reduced energy efficiency, but many of them remained in place.
The administration released unprecedented funding for energy efficiency and weatherization. The Weatherization Assistance Program alone gave 3.5 billion dollars for the effort, resulting in 700,000 low-income households that increased energy efficiency and paid less for energy. 8.7 billion dollars were spent through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This program primarily helped households with children, elderly individuals, and people with disabilities.
In June 2022, Biden announced a new initiative for increasing energy efficiency in buildings, reducing payment for energy in households at the same time. At least 225 million dollars were scheduled to be spent on it.
In February 2023 the United States Department of Energy proposed a set of new energy efficiency standards that, if implemented, will save to users of different electric machines in the United States around $3,500,000,000 per year and will reduce by the year 2050 carbon emissions by the same amount as emitted by 29,000,000 houses.
On October 2023 the Senate in a bipartisan vote rejected a proposal that could hurt policies promoting energy efficiency in houses. An opponent of the proposal argued the policies can save to a homeowner 15,000$ in average. The amount of money expected to be saved is not uniform but depend on climate zone. The report that calculated the gains divided the country into 8 zones from very hot and humid climate (zone 1) to subarctic and arctic (zone 8). The whole life cycle savings vary "from as low as $7,536 in Climate Zone 2, to a high of $46,836 in Climate Zone 8."
Land and ocean conservation
Biden's administration set a goal of protecting 30% of the land and the water of the US. Currently, 12% of land and 26% of water are protected. The plan for achieving the target is called "America the Beautiful" and include many measures like expanding urban green spaces and collaboration with indigenous people. The initiative includes $1 billion in grants for community-based conservation and restoration projects.
In October 2021, President Biden announced the expansion of Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, restoring the original areas and protections that were reduced by President Trump.
President Biden created Camp Hale–Continental Divide National Monument in 2022 and Avi Kwa Ame National Monument and Castner Range National Monument in 2023.
In March 2023, Biden directed the Department of Commerce to designate the Pacific Remote Islands as a National Marine Sanctuary, expanding the protections of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
Biden's administration launched a plan for protecting the oceans called "Ocean Climate Action Plan". It includes measures for protecting and restoring many marine and coastal ecosystems, stopping climate change with the help of these ecosystems and helping communities depending on them.
Oil and gas pipelines
The Biden administration supports the Line 3 pipeline owned by the Canadian corporation Enbridge. However, the pipeline was still facing significant resistance as of September 2021.
In January 2021, President Biden halted further development of the Keystone Pipeline by way of an executive order, which also directed agencies to review and reverse more than 100 Trump administration actions on the environment. In June 2021, the pipeline project was canceled. It was considered an environmental threat by environmentalists, indigenous peoples, and the Biden administration.
Environmental reviews of projects
In January 2021, Biden took some actions to improve the link between science and the policies of his administration on environmental issues. It includes improving the environmental reviews of big projects before they are given approval according to the NEPA, improving the function of the Environmental Protection Agency, and reestablishing a scientific body to calculate the social cost of all greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide. He ordered a stop to the oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as well as stating that the voices of indigenous peoples should be taken into consideration in the process of approving projects. He has also begun the process of installing standards for methane emissions.
In October 2021, the Biden administration filed an application for a mineral withdrawal which will put a hold on the development of a copper mine near Ely, Minnesota while the environmental impacts are studied. The proposed mine is located on the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, an area that is popular for canoeing, fishing, and hiking, and is the country's most visited wilderness area. The Obama administration had launched a similar study but 24 weeks into the 28 week study the newly elected Trump administration ended it, allowing the plans for the mining operation to continue. The completed study could lead to a 20-year ban on mining upstream from the BWCAW.
In April 2022, the Biden administration restored components of an environmental law (NEPA) from the 1970s that were abolished by Trump, requiring consideration of climate impacts and local community interests before approving major projects.
Drilling on public lands
One week after becoming president, Biden signed several executive orders aimed at combatting climate change and protecting the environment. He ordered the Interior Secretary to stop new oil and gas drilling in federal lands and water, and a review of existing projects. However, these pauses were only temporary and didn't stop drilling permanently. Another order sets a target of protecting 30% of United States lands and waters by 2030, as well as set in motion the creation of a plan for climate financing and a climate target for the United States. Biden also signed a presidential memorandum establishing a process for documenting any instances in which "improper political interference" interfered with research or distorted data. Biden also increased the social cost of carbon to $51, the price that had been set by the Obama administration but had been slashed to $7 by Trump.
In response to the reviews, the Interior Department stopped many of the oil and gas drilling projects, took measures for the protection of wild animals, and restored national monuments. It is also preparing a review of the entire oil and gas leasing program of the United States. However, the Biden administration does support an oil drilling project, known as "Willow", which was approved by the Trump administration. This decision was criticized by environmentalists.
In early June 2021, the Interior Department suspended all oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This national wildlife refuge includes around 20 million acres where snowy owls, caribou and other endangered wildlife lives. Days later, a federal court issued a temporary injunction against the Interior Department action, pending litigation filed by more than a dozen states.
Attorneys general from Republican states successfully sued to lift the suspension that Biden had placed on the selling of federal gas and oil leases and on September 17 energy companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell bid $192 million for drilling rights on federal gas and oil reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. In November 2021, it was reported that the Biden administration was preparing lease some 80 million acres to gas and oil drilling companies. More than 250 indigenous, social justice, and environmental groups wrote a letter to the Biden administration asking Biden to keep his promise to end new leases on public waters and lands and stop the sale which they believe "makes a mockery" of the climate commitments made at COP26. The lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico was further criticized after the Department of Justice debunked the justification that the sale was legally required by the June 2021 ruling blocking the pause on oil leases.
In January 2022, a federal judge remanded the lease auction back to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for relying on a distorted Trump-era environmental impact assessment. The administration also proposed another round of gas and oil lease sales in 2022, in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and other western states.
In February 2022, the Biden administration suspended any further oil and gas leases on public lands. The decision came after a Trump-appointed judge reversed the social cost of carbon of $51 per ton, the figure established by Obama and restored by Biden, back to $7 per ton which had been Trump's cost estimate. The reversal was a result of a suit by 10 Republican attorneys general.
In May 2022 the administration abolished 3 leases in the Mexican Gulf and Alaska. One of the reasons was "a lack of industry interest".
Renewable energy
In his proposed 2022 budget, the Biden Administration has proposed a $10 billion investment in clean energy research and development, an increase of 30%. The budget also proposes $2 billion to be invested in green energy projects, as well as setting aside reserves of $6.5 billion to lend to communities to lend to rural communities in support of additional green energy, power storage, and transmission projects. Biden has ordered the amount of energy produced from offshore wind turbines to be doubled by 2030.
In April 2023, the Biden administration announced that it would make $450 million in funding available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for clean energy demonstration projects in coal mining communities to convert current and former mines into clean energy projects, as well as $16 million in funding to the University of North Dakota and West Virginia University to create design studies for a full-scale refinery facility to extract and separate rare-earth elements and other minerals (including those needed in electric vehicle batteries) from coal ash, acid mine drainage, and other mine waste.
Nuclear energy
$6.6 billion is provided in the new infrastructure law to keep older nuclear power plants from being prematurely decommissioned. Biden initiatives fully fund two new reactor demonstration projects, X-energy and TerraPower.
Fossil fuel subsidies
The Biden administration has delivered a tax plan to congress that aims to start winding back fossil fuel subsidies, replacing the subsidies with incentives to start producing green energy. It is estimated that ending tax subsidies for those companies could save the American taxpayer $121 billion over the course of the next decade. He has also stated his ambition to make the United States' power sector completely free of fossil fuels by 2035, and will bring a law to congress with a legal commitment to make the grid 80% clean by 2030. He has also made a commitment to ensure that all federal vehicles are electric. In a series of executive orders at the beginning of his presidency, Biden ordered an increase in the production of renewable energy on federal lands and water, the creation of the Civilian Climate Corps, and making the fossil fuel companies responsible for repairing faults that lead to environmental damage. As a part of a commitment to environmental justice, he also stated that 40% of all climate investments will be sent to the most historically vulnerable communities, and created a special body for dealing with the issue, the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council.
Deforestation and wildlife
On the first day of his presidency, the Biden administration ordered a broad review of Trump-era policies pertaining to wildlife in the United States, including the gutting of the Migratory Birds Treaty Act and his decision to strip a number of animals, including gray wolves and the northern spotted owl, of their protections under the Endangered Species Act. In June 2021, the Biden administration announced that they were beginning the process of restoring and strengthening wildlife protections that were loosened under the Trump Administration, mainly in regards to the weakening of protections granted to endangered animals under the Endangered Species Act, and the extent to which their habitats have to be protected. In June 2022, the Biden administration restored a rule that broadened the definition of a “critical habitat” and allowed more protection of endangered species. This reversed a rule that Trump put into place right before leaving office, which limited the definition of a “critical habitat” to areas that could have sustained endangered species at the time, excluding places that could potentially sustain them in the future.
In November 2021, Biden promised to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, in the COP26 climate summit's first major agreement. In the same month, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an advisory to financial institutions to increase scrutiny of financial transactions potentially tied to wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, and illegal fishing and the advisory was the first in the agency's history to prevent environmental crimes.
Transportation
The transportation sector is the biggest emitter of CO2 in the United States, and reducing transportation emissions will require a large-scale transition to carbon-free transportation. Biden promised to give all cities with populations greater than 100,000 people good public transport with low carbon options. United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is expected to work toward achieving the goals, but nothing had been put into action as of June 2021. Biden plans to increase the use of "zero carbon" transport, including cycling and walking.
In August 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards for Model Years 2023 through 2026. The 2023 target would call for a 9.8% reduction over the 2022 target with subsequent year-over-year reductions of approximately 5%.
In December 2021, the new greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles were adopted. They were 6% stronger than the original proposition made in August and were estimated to prevent the emission of 3.1 billion tons of into the atmosphere. The benefits of the new standards overpass the cost by 190 billion dollars, including savings on fuel, reduction of the impacts of climate change and air pollution. According to the EPA the reduction is "equivalent to more than half the total U.S. emissions in 2019". The rules should cut the emissions from passenger cars and trucks (17% of the US greenhouse gas emissions) by 5%-10% in the years 2023–2026.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes:
$7.5 billion to build a national network of electric vehicle chargers
$5 billion for a "Clean School Bus Program"
$350 million for new wildlife crossings and corridors pilot project
$250 million for an electric or low-emissions ferry pilot program
$250 million to reduce truck idling at ports
Biden's administration promoted Transit-oriented development, Walking, Cycling, Mixed-use development among other by creating community-based Transport hubs. This was done mainly in low income neighborhoods. 1 billion dollars will be spent on reconnecting neighborhoods.
In April 2023, the EPA proposed new tailpipe emissions limits that the agency estimated could require 67 percent of all new automobiles sold in the United States to be electric by 2032 (surpassing the previous commitment by the Biden administration under Executive Order 14037 for electric cars to make up 50 percent of new automobile sales by 2030).
Agriculture
Biden pledged to cut emissions from the agriculture sector in the US by 50% by 2030. In February 2022 the United States Department of Agriculture begun to implement a program designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector in the US. The sector accounts for over 10% of the overall emissions. The program includes a 1 billion dollars spendings on methods like No-till farming, Crop rotation, Carbon capture and storage, Manure management and Rotational grazing. The program includes measures regarding Forests. The agriculture sector in the USA has already heavily suffered from different impacts of climate change. On October 2023, the Senate approved 8.5 million$ to Urban agriculture.
Indigenous people
The administration spent many efforts on enhancing cooperation with the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, among others, by creating a consultation mechanism for assuring their voice will be heard for environmental justice initiatives. Different tribes and villages received help in protection from different effects of climate change.
The Biden administration provided a total of 120 million dollars to support tribes impacted by the effects of climate change. The funding consists of $25 million from the annual allocations for fiscal year 2023, $72 million from the Inflation Reduction Act, and $23 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program covers a variety of initiatives, including planning for climate adaptation, drought management, wildland fire mitigation measures, community-driven relocation and management of the ocean and coastline.
On October 8, 2021, President Joe Biden delivered the first-ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples' Day, providing the most substantial boost yet to efforts to redirect the federal holiday commemorating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation of Indigenous people. On the same day, the Biden Administration unveiled its plans to restore land for two significant national monuments in Utah that Trump had stripped of protections. One of them, Bears Ears, is situated on what Indigenous tribes recognize as sacred ground.
International climate action
Paris climate agreement
Upon his first hours in office on January 20, 2021, President Biden signed an executive order bringing the United States back into the Paris Climate Agreement, after President Trump announced the country's withdrawal in 2017. The move was welcomed by environmental groups and by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The General Secretary of the United Nations, António Guterres, congratulated Biden, stating that with the United States rejoining the agreement, the countries responsible for two-thirds of the global greenhouse gas emission will have made pledges to become carbon neutral. Without the United States, it was only half. President of France Emmanuel Macron congratulated Biden saying, 'Welcome back to the Paris Agreement!'
In February 2021, The United States officially rejoined the Paris Agreement. Speaking about the occasion, John Kerry mentioned the urgent need to act on climate change in the next 10 years, the impact that climate change will have on the future, and the impacts that it is already having, such as the latest extreme cold events in the USA that in his opinion is "related to climate because the polar vortex penetrates further south because of the weakening of the jet stream related to warming." This opinion is shared by many climate scientists.
One week after Biden became president, he also began the process of creating a special plan for providing financial help for low-income countries in addressing issues related to climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation.
In February 2021, Biden issued an order to begin the process of identification of climate refugees and finding ways to help those people.
The Biden administration is urging China to speed up its commitment to becoming carbon neutral, with John Kerry saying that its pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2060 is "not good enough".
International climate summit
On the 22–23 April 2021, Biden hosted a virtual climate summit with 40 world leaders, organised by the administration.
At the summit, Biden announced a new target for the US, previously having no Nationally Determined Contribution due to their withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The new target aims to reduce GHG emissions by 50% - 52% by 2030 relative to the level of 2005, the amount specified by experts to adequately limit temperature rise. The new target is described as a considerable step forward in the fight against climate change, although still not enough to limit global temperature rise to under the 1.5 degrees target. Overall, the commitments made at the summit reduce the gap between the government's current pledges and the 1.5 degrees target by 12% - 14%. If the pledges are accomplished, global emissions by 2030 will fall by 2.6% - 3.7% Gte more than they would have with the pledges before the summit.
At the beginning of May 2021, Climate Action Tracker released a more detailed report about the significance of the summit. According to the report, the summit, together with other pledges made from September 2020, reduce the expected rise in temperature by 2100 by 0.2 degrees. If all pledges are fulfilled, temperatures will rise by 2.4 °C, compared to the 2.9 °C increase that would arise from business-as-usual. In the most optimistic scenario, if the countries also fulfill the pledges that are not part of the Paris Agreement, temperatures will rise by 2.0 °C.
Biden's administration also launched a number of coalitions and initiatives aimed at stopping climate change and helping to reduce its impacts. These include a Global Climate Ambition Initiative for helping low-income countries to achieve emissions targets and a "Net-Zero Producers Forum, with Canada, Norway, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, together representing 40% of global oil and gas production"
IPCC and United Nations climate summits
In November 2021, world leaders met at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to negotiate goals to reduce global warming. While there was some progress, it is believed that the agreements reached are not sufficient to avoid the worst damage.
Developing countries, which have already faced hardships due to intense droughts and flooding, asked that developed countries, largely responsible for global warming, establish a fund to help them cope. The more well-to-do nations, including the U.S., refused.
One of the successes of the conference was the US - China agreement on fighting climate change together. The framework includes commitments to:
Working for achieving halt in temperature rise on 2 and preferably 1.5 degrees, global Carbon neutrality.
Establishing environmental standards and policies needed for the transition to clean economy.
Moving toward Circular economy.
Control and reduce Methane emissions. China will adopt a national methane reduction plan as the U.S. has already done. In the first half of 2022 both countries will convene a meeting to accelerate the process.
Increase Energy efficiency and usage of Renewable energy. The U.S. will make its electricity sector, carbon pollution-free by 2035.
Working to stop globally the use of unabated thermal coal power generation. China will lower the use of coal how much it can during the 15th Five Year Plan.
Working to stop illegal deforestation by stopping illegal imports.
Giving financial and capacity building help to other countries.
Submitting new NDC to the year 2035 by 2025.
Create a special body: ""Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s," that will coordinate the implementation of this agreement.
At the conference, 40 countries, including the U.S. and five institutions promised to stop financing carbon intensive projects abroad by the end of the year 2022.
At the conference US and UAE launched an initiative named "the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate)". In February 2022 the US gave 1 billion dollars to GHG emissions, cutting from its agricultural sector what can be considered as part of the implementation. The initiative needs another 8 billion dollars for being implemented as well.
Bilateral climate issues
The Biden administration ended the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) established under Obama. CERC had been the most ambitious clean energy cooperation platform between the two countries, and one of the few cooperation mechanisms to have survived the Trump administration.
International carbon accounting reporting standards
In July 2023, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, of which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are board members and whose members agencies regulate more than 95 percent of worldwide market capitalization, endorsed the climate reporting standards created by the International Sustainability Standards Board (including for Scope 3 reporting).
Reception
Environmental organizations and scientists responded positively to the Biden administration's actions on climate change on the first day of his presidency. The decisions taken one week later were similarly welcomed by environmental groups, like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sunrise Movement and partially by the Indigenous Environmental Network. However, the Western Energy Alliance filed a lawsuit against the decision to stop giving new permits for oil and gas drilling in federal lands and waters, whilst the Indigenous Environmental Network said that the decision did not go far enough. There is also concern that the ban on new oil and gas drilling on public lands will not reduce greenhouse gas emissions because less than half of the existing permits are presently in use.
Some have criticized Biden's environmental policies on the premise that they will eliminate jobs, a popular Republican argument against Biden in the 2020 election. Biden has countered that his policies will actually create jobs in the transition to a green economy. There is also the argument that climate change, if not acted upon, would cause the loss of many more jobs than any climate action on the part of the Biden Administration would. According to Energy Innovation, a program aimed at reaching zero emissions by 2050, could save the U.S. 3.5 trillion dollars if it starts being implemented now, compared to a scenario in which it will begin to be implemented in 2030.
The Biden administration's environmental policy has been characterized as a return to the Obama administration's climate change policy of reducing carbon emissions with the goal of conserving the environment for future generations. However, according to a letter sent to the administration by a group of young climate activists, returning to the policy of Obama and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 will not be enough to stabilize the climate. Others have criticized Biden's environmental policies for being too conservative, believing that they do not go far enough in comparison to policies put in place by politicians like the Green Party's Howie Hawkins, who created the original version of the Green New Deal, or Biden's primary rival Bernie Sanders.
The attorney general of 21 Republican-led states sued Biden for canceling the permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline. The attorney general of 14 Republican-led states sued him for the moratorium on new oil and gas leases on public lands and waters. Many of those states suffer from severe, climate change induced, heat wave and drought. Farmers are among the most affected.
In February 2022 around 100 religious leaders called to Biden and congress to pass the build back better bill for protecting the climate. Those include Christians, Jews and others. Around 80% of catholic woman are members in the organizations that signed the letter. One of them mentioned that the bill sets a spending of 555 billion dollars through several years while the Senate approved spending of 770 billion in 1 year for military tasks.
The organization Ocean visions supported the U.S. Ocean Climate Action Plan saying the oceans are giving many necessary services (including linked to climate) and are under severe threat from climate change and ocean acidification
References
Bundled references
2021 in the environment
Environmental policy in the United States
Policies of Joe Biden
Presidency of Joe Biden
Climate change policy in the United States