3 ‘Day One’ Actions By President Biden To Watch On Climate Change

I am writing this very early on the morning of Inauguration Day eve. On January 20th, President Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States of America with a historic popular vote tally. Even in the midst of a deadly coronavirus pandemic, climate change emerged as a critical topic in the 2020 election cycle. Here are three early actions to watch for by the Biden Administration on climate change.

The Administration has already announced that on Day 1 it will issue an Executive Order reinstating the United States in the Paris Agreement. In November 2019, the Trump Administration unilaterally began the process of removing the U.S. from the Agreement. Most climate scientists, including this one, felt that was a dangerous and irresponsible move. At its core, the Paris Agreement is a global effort to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius. It seeks to achieve this goal through low greenhouse gas emission strategies and greater climate resilience.

While the Paris Agreement is much greater than one country, the U.S. is one of the top 3 carbon emitters in the world. Further, analysts believe that a U.S. absence weakened the unified global front, limited the ability to achieve emission reduction targets, and hampered adaptation or mitigation efforts as the U.S. cutback climate aid to developing countries. It is also just “not a good look” to be absent and harm our leadership position on climate science, technology innovation, and humanitarian efforts.

The Biden Administration has also announced that it will cancel the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. According to the BBC, Biden will revoke the permit for the pipeline through an Executive Order. At full capacity, the pipeline could carry over 800,000 barrels of crude from Alberta (in Canada) to Nebraska. However, environmental scientists argue that greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands in Alberta are greater per barrel of oil than conventional oil. Tribal communities have also expressed concerns about impacts on their native lands.

What are oil sands? According to the NASA Earth Observatory website, it is a region where, “Bitumen—a very thick and heavy form of oil (also called asphalt)—coats grains of sand and other minerals in a deposit that covers about 142,200 square kilometers (54,900 square miles) of northwest Alberta.” It is one of the largest oil reserves in the world. Canadian stakeholders argues that new technologies make the extraction process more efficient.

The third action is more subtle but equally important. The Biden Administration has signaled a strong commitment to climate action with several key appointments. However, something that caught my eye was the elevation of the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to a Cabinet-level position. Having the President’s Science Advisor at the table is significant given that many of the crisis-level problems facing our country like climate change and COVID-19 involve science.