WHO IS OUR NEW PRESIDENT AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT?
Election week has come and gone, and although the United States’ new president has not been officially inaugurated, Joe Biden is the current president-elect. Biden has communicated he will prioritize creating solutions to benefit the environment, with an urgent emphasis on many aspects related to the economic, social, and political impacts of pollution.
BIDEN’S PAST ACTIONS RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENT
Since Biden is not new to government, we can look at his role in many previous environmental policies to view what he has accomplished prior to his elected-presidency.
1986
In 1986, Biden sponsored the Global Climate Protection Act to the Senate, urging the United States to take further action in creating a strategy to prevent climate change.
1998
In 1998, he was involved in the Tropical Forest Conservation Act which includes a debt-for-nature swap, meaning that the countries involved (Latin American and the Caribbean) were able to reduce debt owed to the United States in agreement that the funds would be put towards protection and restoration of tropical forests.
2009
As vice president for Barack Obama, Biden oversaw the Recovery Act, a bill meant to stimulate the economy, including energy incentives for renewable/clean energy.
BIDEN’S PLANS FOR THE FUTURE RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENT
According to his campaign website, Biden intends to “insure the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050,” “build a stronger, more resilient nation,” “rally the rest of the world to meet the threat of climate change,” “stand up to the abuse of power by polluters who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities,” and “fulfill our obligation to workers and communities who powered our industrial revolution and subsequent decades of economic growth.” His plan is quite extensive, so here is only the general summary of each part:
ACHIEVE 100% CLEAN ENERGY
Biden intends to do this through implementing legislation as has been done before, this time at an executive level. Essentially, his goal is to limit pollutant emissions of corporations, to have the government invest roughly “$400 billion” into research and development of clean energy technology, and to incentivize the use of this technology.
BUILD A RESILIENT NATION
The intent here is to invest federal funding into improving the country’s infrastructure in order to reduce pollution. This includes implementing new zoning/building codes to help with natural disasters, attempting to reduce property insurance costs, and encouraging the expansion of rail systems, pushing for them to use electricity over diesel fuel.
RALLY THE REST OF THE WORLD
Through his expected presidency, Biden plans to immediately rejoin the Paris Agreement (a global plan to reduce emissions to keep the Earth’s temperature from rising), demand a global ban on fossil fuel subsidies, and attempt to end offshore drilling in the Arctic. He additionally plans to provide debt relief for developing countries that agree to use funds for environmentally-friendly development, similar to the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998. This section is one of the most extensive on his website, so there are many more plans than mentioned here.
STAND UP TO THE ABUSE OF POWER
As can be understood further in my previous article, “Pollution Burden", pollution disproportionately affects communities with people of color and of lower income. Biden’s plan is to reinstate protections for these communities, pursue consequences for executives of corporations that continue to pollute these regions, and improve infrastructure for clean water in communities that do not have access to it.
FULFILL OBLIGATION TO WORKERS
The workers included in this are specified to be “coal miners and power plant workers.” Biden intends to secure benefits for coal miners, and additionally to invest in creating job opportunities for these workers to adapt to his clean energy plan where coal and power plants would no longer be utilized.
WILL ALL OF THIS ACTUALLY HAPPEN?
As we await the tally from the electoral college on December 14 to tell us who is officially the president, it is unknown whether or not any of Biden’s plans will actually happen. However, knowing what Biden has previously accomplished with his time in government, chances are that if he becomes the president, some of these plans will become actions. Although Biden intends to accomplish everything he says, this would only be true in his ideal government, as even the president has limits on what can be accomplished. Additionally, since many other people have differing opinions as to how climate change should be handled, and the government only has so much money that can be invested into the environment, it is unlikely that all of his plans would actually occur.
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