11/10/2020 12:58
Clarín.com
The New York Times International Weekly
Updated 11/10/2020 12:58
WASHINGTON - President-elect
Joe Biden
campaigned on the most ambitious environmental platform of any presidential candidate in history, promising to spend
$ 2 trillion
over the course of four years to reduce global warming fossil fuel emissions and get on track to much of the country towards the use of clean energy.
The possibility of the Senate remaining under the control of Republicans, who have traditionally opposed environmental policies, could put a damper on some of his broader plans.
But regardless of whether Democrats control the Senate or not, the first 100 days of the Biden administration is likely to see a wave of executive action addressing climate change, as well as a major push to insert clean energy provisions into legislation that could be passed with a bipartisan coalition.
These are the nine measures that Biden could implement in the first days of his administration to reposition the United States in the fight against climate change.
1. Rejoin the Paris Agreement
Biden made a commitment during the campaign, and last week he said it again, that the day he takes office, he will re-commit to the global agreement on climate change.
That would only require a letter to the United Nations and would take effect 30 days later.
2. Summon world leaders
Biden has said he intends to convene a "world climate summit" to pressure the leaders of major industrial nations to more aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Reverse energy dismantling
The Biden administration is expected to immediately revoke a large number of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump on the energy issue, in particular an order from March 2017 requiring each of the federal agencies to dismantle its environmental policies. .
Several experts said Biden is likely to replace that order with one declaring his government's intention to stop greenhouse gases while ordering all government agencies to find ways to comply with that instruction.
4. Make the environment part of the measures against the coronavirus
The Biden administration is likely to push for the inclusion of clean energy supplies in any of the new economic stimulus measures that Congress mandates.
That could include things like funding research and clean energy development, funding for states to continue their expansion of renewable energy sources, and an extension of tax credits for renewable energy industries.
5. Sign executive orders to cut emissions
Developing and implementing new regulations will take time and could ultimately be overturned by the conservative majority of the Supreme Court.
But Biden has indicated that, in the first days of his term, he will sign executive orders requesting agencies to determine new methane limits in oil and gas wells, as well as to restore and strengthen fuel economy standards and to tighten efficiency standards for appliances and buildings.
6. Create new financial regulations
Biden has also said that, on the first day of his administration, he will sign an executive order for public companies to disclose financial risks related to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions in their operations.
7. Review the regulations for the production of fossil fuels
Biden is expected to void a 2017 executive order that removed restrictions on offshore energy exploration and production.
It could also halt accelerated reviews of pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.
8. Prioritize environmental justice
Addressing the effects that pollution and global warming have on low-income communities has been one of the central elements of Biden's environmental plan.
In the short term, your government could create an environmental justice advisory board to coordinate inter-agency policy and take firm steps in monitoring vulnerable communities and creating mapping tools to better understand disparities.
9. Recover wildlife areas
Biden vowed to take "immediate action to reverse Trump's attack on America's national treasures," including massive cuts in 2017 to the Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, as well as the opening of some sectors of the National Refuge. of Arctic Wildlife to Oil Exploration.
Biden said that on his first day as president he will sign an executive order to preserve 30 percent of America's territory and waters by 2030.
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