[ Joe Biden has promised to ensure climate justice, but will his
administration rise to the challenge? With the Biden Administration
pledging to take the climate crisis seriously, some grounds for
optimism exist.] [[link removed]]

HOW BIDEN CAN TACKLE THE CLIMATE CRISIS  
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Tina Gerhardt
February 11, 2021
The Progressive
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_ Joe Biden has promised to ensure climate justice, but will his
administration rise to the challenge? With the Biden Administration
pledging to take the climate crisis seriously, some grounds for
optimism exist. _

The Biden Administration has both the need and the potential to move
forward quickly on the climate crisis., Photo: Friends of the Earth
International

 

A first auspicious sign was President Joe Biden’s creation of two
new positions: the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, the
first climate-focused appointment to the National Security Council,
and the first National Climate Adviser, who will coordinate climate
policy across the federal government. To the first post, Biden
appointed John Kerry
[[link removed]],
former Secretary of State (2013-2017) and Senator from Massachusetts
(1985-2013); and to the second, he appointed Gina McCarthy
[[link removed]],
who ran the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama
Administration. 

“We look forward to having a representative who has insight into
Indigenous issues and priorities, so that LANDBACK
[[link removed]] organizers
can uplift our policy solutions and help fuel change that benefits all
people and the planet.”

In addition to these two posts, Biden has rounded out his climate team
with the following nominations: Jennifer Granholm
[[link removed]] for
Secretary of Energy; Deb Haaland
[[link removed]] for
Secretary of the Interior; Brenda Mallory
[[link removed]] for
chair of the Council on Environmental Quality; and Michael S. Regan
[[link removed]] for
head of the EPA. This team confirms that the administration will focus
not only on addressing climate change but also on ensuring climate
justice.

Even before he was elected, Biden was already moving in this
direction. After establishing
[[link removed]] the
Biden-Sanders Climate Task Force, co-chaired by Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez and John Kerry, he agreed to a wave of proposals,
including a pledge to power the United States with  carbon-free
sources by 2035. The task force, which adopted many of the benchmarks
of the Green New Deal, reflects Biden’s openness to working with the
more progressive lawmakers and representatives from nongovernmental
groups.

That said, the work ahead is enormous. The Biden Administration needs
to ramp up action to cut emissions from vehicles, power plants, farms,
and homes. According to the EPA, the greenhouse gas emissions for
2018, the most recent year for which figures are available, break
down as follows
[[link removed]]:
transportation (28 percent), electricity (27 percent), industry (22
percent), commercial and residential (12 percent), and agriculture (10
percent).

If Biden wants to fulfill his pre-election promises to address climate
change, action in the following areas could facilitate the transition
to a low-carbon economy while also creating much-needed jobs.

TRANSPORTATION: Not only could Biden undo
[[link removed]] Trump’s
rollback of the Obama Administration’s emissions targets for
vehicles, he could also set a target year for ending the production of
diesel- and gasoline-powered vehicles. Canada, for example, declared
[[link removed]] in
2017 that, starting in 2040, vehicles sold in the country should
produce no emissions. In December, Canada’s Minister of Environment
and Climate Change, Jonathan Wilkinson, suggested
[[link removed]] a
North America–wide ban on new fossil-fuel-powered vehicles.
Japan announced
[[link removed]] recently
that it plans to ban the sale of these vehicles by 2035. The United
Kingdom, too, agreed to end
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sale of them by 2030. Norway, one of the world’s largest exporters
of oil, stated
[[link removed]] it
would shift as early as 2025. In total, more than a dozen countries
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to end the sale of vehicles powered by fossil fuels. For Biden,
ambitious targets here would go a long way.

Granholm was involved
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bailout of the automobile industry in 2008. That this bailout did not
demand a more rigorous transition to electric vehicles was a missed
opportunity. But Granholm’s previous experience working with the
automobile industry could be a boon.

National legislation would be essential to reducing carbon dioxide
(CO₂) emissions. To that end, Representative Mike Levin, Democrat of
California, and Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, introduced
[[link removed]] the
Zero-Emission Vehicles Act to the House in May 2019, and reintroduced
[[link removed].] it
in October 2020 to the 116th Congress.

Even without national legislation, further opportunities for
transition exist. For example, all federally owned and operated
vehicles and public transportation could be shifted to electric.

Funding for public transportation could also be ramped up
dramatically, to make it both more accessible and more affordable. The
recent relief package included
[[link removed]] $45
billion in transportation funding: $16 billion for airlines, $14
billion for transit systems, $10 billion for state highways, $2
billion each for airports and intercity buses, and $1 billion for
Amtrak. Like a food pyramid, this funding should be flipped on its
head.

According to the American Public Transportation Association, ridership
has increased
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28 percent since 1995. Public transportation systems could be
overhauled to ensure smooth connections among trains, subways, and
buses. Infrastructure for bicycling and walking could be expanded. For
long distances, trains—a Biden favorite—could be supported, not
only on the East Coast but also in the so-called Heartland
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on the West Coast, and cross-country.

RENEWABLE ENERGY: Of course, electric vehicles reduce CO₂ emissions
only if the source of the electricity is carbon-neutral. Retooling the
U.S. energy grid away from fossil fuels, such as coal and gas
(including fracking), is critical.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, energy use
in 2019 [[link removed]], the most
recent year for which figures are available, broke down as follows:
fossil fuels, 62.6 percent (natural gas, 38.4 percent; coal, 23.4
percent; petroleum, 0.4 percent); nuclear, 19.6 percent; and
renewables, 17.6 percent. Biden’s original plan
[[link removed]], the Biden-Sanders Task Force,
and the Green New Deal all have framed renewable energy as a job
creator and stated their commitment to union jobs.

The renewable energy transition would require infrastructure,
specifically energy grid modernization. Here, an opportunity for
local, community-owned
[[link removed]] decentralized
enterprises
[[link removed]] could
also ensure energy justice.  A smart power grid could ensure
affordable access to electricity. Biden has pledged
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build 550,000 new electric vehicle charging stations. Their
availability could be increased at all public buildings. The European
Union also recently announced
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to have one million charging stations by 2025, setting the bar higher.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Michael Regan, North Carolina’s environment
secretary since 2017, was nominated
[[link removed]] to
be head of the Environmental Protection Agency. He will be, if
confirmed, the first African American man to head the EPA.

Regan would be in charge of regulating fuel-efficiency standards,
emissions from power plants, and fossil-fuel projects. Regan brings
with him a commitment to clean air and clean water, the lack of which
disproportionately affects people of color and poor people. The shift
to renewables will reduce many sources of air and water pollution.

“While leading the Department of Environmental Quality in North
Carolina, Regan rightly pushed massive utility Duke Energy to clean up
its toxic coal ash
[[link removed]] and
fought Trump’s offshore oil drilling plans,” Lisa Ramsden,
Greenpeace senior climate campaigner, tells _The Progressive_. “But
he has a mixed record on environmental justice issues in the state,
failing to protect communities from the health impacts of living near
hog farms
[[link removed]] and
approving multiple permits for the carbon-intensive wood pellet
industry
[[link removed]].
Regan, and the rest of the Biden-Harris Administration, need to pair
their lofty rhetoric on environmental justice with consistent
action.”

INDIGENOUS RIGHTS: Biden’s nomination
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Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior is historic and it could
prove pivotal. Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna. It is the
first time an Indigenous person will serve in the Cabinet. An
Indigenous-led, nationwide movement
[[link removed]] urged
Biden to appoint Haaland.

“[Haaland] will have the power to stand up to the corporations who
have been influencing the Department for generations and causing the
destruction of Indigenous lands,” says Nick Tilsen,  president and
chief executive officer of the NDN Collective
[[link removed]]. “We look forward to having a
representative who has insight into Indigenous issues and priorities,
so that LANDBACK
[[link removed]] organizers
can uplift our policy solutions and help fuel change that benefits all
people and the planet.”

The Department of the Interior stewards
[[link removed]] 500
million acres, or one fifth of the land in the United States, and 56
million
[[link removed]] acres
of those lands are held in trust for Native Americans. The land ranges
from endangered species habitats to oil and gas drilling sites.
Haaland could place a moratorium on onshore and offshore drilling on
public lands, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

INDUSTRY: Manufacturing, food processing, mining, and construction
offer many opportunities for removing CO₂ emissions, such as
shifting energy sources and ensuring the energy efficiency of
buildings and vehicles.

Brenda Mallory has been nominated
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head the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Previously, she
served as director of regulatory policy
[[link removed]] at the
Southern Environmental Law Center. The council oversees White House
energy and environmental policies across federal agencies and monitors
the environmental impacts of federal infrastructure projects, such as
highways, pipelines, and new buildings. The review process is pivotal
to ensuring the protection of public health and environmental justice.

“Mallory is now in a position to undo Trump’s gutting
[[link removed]] of
the National Environmental Policy Act, which CEQ oversees, a move that
made it easier for fossil-fuel infrastructure to get project
approval,” says Natalie Mebane, associate director of 350.org
[[link removed]]. “She has signaled she will do so, and we expect
her to follow through. We will work with her to ensure the
administration delivers on their climate promises to the most impacted
communities.”

COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL: Energy efficiency in buildings is an
often overlooked but crucial way to reduce CO₂ emissions. Existing
commercial and residential buildings would need to be upgraded, and
new buildings would need to ensure maximum energy and water
efficiency.

Marcia Fudge
[[link removed]],
nominated as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, could
leverage federal power to ensure that housing at all levels and for
all financial income brackets is retooled to be both energy efficient
and powered by renewable energy.

AGRICULTURE: Emissions from agriculture are often underestimated
[[link removed]] and
might be as much as three times higher than the most recent official
figure. These emissions are easier to reduce, given that the
technologies for doing so already exist.

Investing in land-use practices that support sustainable farming, soil
health, and family farms is key. Shifting from fertilizers and
pesticides, which are carbon intensive to manufacture, to organic
methods is important. Livestock is a large contributor to global
greenhouse gas emissions, so reducing the methane emissions from cows
could reduce overall emissions. A shift in agricultural practices
could also ensure universal access to fresh and healthful food.

In one of his weakest picks, Biden has tapped
[[link removed]] Tom
Vilsack, a well-known supporter of industrial farms, to be Secretary
of Agriculture, a position he also held for eight years under Obama.
But Vilsack could encourage the U.S. Department of Agriculture—which
also manages the U.S. Forest Service—to boost reforestation. He
could also strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
[[link removed]],
run by the USDA, to meet the economic downturn and food insecurity
caused by COVID-19 (and the previous administration’s handling of
it).

LEADERSHIP: As the first chair of the newly created position of
National Climate Adviser, Biden picked
[[link removed]] Gina
McCarthy. While she headed the EPA during the Obama Administration,
she put forward
[[link removed]] some
of the administration’s most ambitious climate policies, including
the Clean Power Plan and rules to increase the fuel efficiency of
vehicles.

Most importantly, by centering the climate crisis the Biden
Administration makes clear it views it not as a single issue, narrowly
construed, but as a lens through which to view all else. Being mindful
of how the climate crisis intersects with other issues—such as
defense, education, foreign policy, health care, housing, and labor,
to name a few—will be key to addressing it.

The Green New Deal
[[link removed]] exemplifies
this approach with a call to provide “all people of the United
States with—high-quality health care; affordable, safe, and adequate
housing; economic security; and clean water, clean air, healthy and
affordable food, and access to nature.”

The Biden Administration has both the need and the potential to move
forward quickly on the climate crisis. So much depends on how well it
does.

_[Tina Gerhardt is an environmental journalist and academic who covers
climate change, international climate negotiations and domestic energy
policy, hurricanes and sea level rise. Her work has been published by
Common Dreams, Grist, The Nation, The Progressive, Sierra and the
Washington Monthly. Twitter: @TinaGerhardtEJ
[[link removed]]]_

_Thanks to the author for sending this to xxxxxx._

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