US return to Paris Agreement on Climate Change
US President Joe Biden acknowledged the fact that climate change is real in his inauguration speech on 20th January, he announced that the national and foreign policy would be climate-centric and recognized the need to fight the climate catastrophe. He sanctioned America’s return to the 2015 Paris accord and correct the historical wrong of his predecessor- Donald Trump. He said “we need to bear in mind, that rejoining the agreement is just the first step in a long journey to tackle climate disaster”. The new administration needs to come up with a plan to reduce emissions and shift to cleaner forms of energy by 2050.
António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations welcomed the decision to re-join the agreement which is designed to combat the climate crisis and said, “we are in through reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases and by shifting to renewable sources of energy. US re-joining the agreement is significant as it is the second largest emitter in the world”. So, naturally what actions America takes with regards to the climate crisis will determine whether the world collectively is able to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5° Celsius. Instrument of acceptance to the agreement was deposited with UN chief on 20th January and will come into force on 19 February 2021 which implies that it will be legally binding on US to manage climate change by adhering to its nationally determined contributions.
Executive Actions taken by President Biden:
On the first day of his Presidency, Joe Biden blocked the Keystone XL oil pipeline which was to carry crude oil from Alberta to Gulf of Mexico refineries. The project was designed to expand the production of dirty oil sources and would have continued beyond 2050, which is the deadline to limit temperature rise to 1.5° Celsius. From the climate perspective, it was right to block the pipeline to protect the environment and help the world transition to cleaner forms of energy.
Biden government also decided to reverse the anti-science policies of the environmental protection agency (EPA) under the Trump administration and along with it, new policies would be put up in place to make the electric grid carbon neutral by 2035. EPA regulations to limit oil and gas leakage, greenhouse gas rules for airplanes, revision of fuel economy rules for automobiles by the Transportation Department are to be promulgated under the Democratic management.
Joint standard for fuel economy and greenhouse gas tailpipe emissions would be restored. Interagency process which was designed to maintain the social cost of carbon and methane launched during the Obama-Biden administration would be revived during the Biden-Harris administration. Environmental justice which examines the impact on poverty-stricken communities and people of colour from climate change and environmental degradation, which was not a part of the Obama process would also be taken into consideration going forward.
On 27th January 2021, US President signed an executive order directing the federal government to raise climate change to be a priority at the national security level and in addition to that, 30 percent of the federal land and water needs to be conserved which implies that lease for gas and oil development projects on federal lands would be suspended. This decision contrast with that of the previous administration which had given a go-ahead to Keystone XL pipeline which would have extracted oil using dirty sources, thereby leading to increase in emissions.
The executive actions taken by Joe Biden clearly conveys that his administration would be focusing on climate change apart from managing issues such as COVID-19 crisis, systemic racism etc. The pledge to have carbon neutral electricity by 2035 and for the whole economy to turn green by 2050 is a step in the right direction as far as combating harsh effects of climate change is concerned. The actions mentioned above indicate that the Democratic government intends to dismantle the disastrous policies of the Republican government vis-à-vis environmental regulation and intends to put in place policies designed to transform the economy away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy.
Climate centric cabinet members:
To tackle climate crisis both at home and abroad, President Biden appointed national climate advisor Gina McCarthy who will see look after the national climate policy. Michael Regan would lead the EPA, who has served in North Carolina’s environmental office since 2017 where he secured a multi-billion dollars settlement to ensure coal ash clean up with Duke energy. Jennifer Granholm would be the Secretary of Energy she is known to have signed a law which required more electricity to be drawn from renewable sources of energy during her time as the governor of Michigan.
Brenda Mallory would be the director of the council on environmental quality, she has years of experience of working at the EPA. Ali Zaidi will be the deputy national climate advisor he has served as the deputy secretary for New York’s energy and environment department. Last but not the least, John Kerry who in the capacity of Secretary of State during Obama administration had a hand in framing the Paris accord would serve as the Presidential special climate envoy in the Biden administration.
While appointing climate centric-cabinet members would not automatically solve the crisis we face today, but it indicates that the new administration is serious about addressing the climate crisis. President Biden hopes to hold a climate summit on 22 April which is celebrated as Earth day where the President’s special envoy for Climate, John Kerry is expected to play a key role in convincing major emitters to adhere to their national commitments of reducing emissions which are desperately needed to combat climate change.
Climate Plan:
President intends to invest $2 trillion in the cleaner energy over the course of his term with the end goal being 100 percent electricity drawn from clean sources by 2035. Herein the funds would be collected by increasing taxes on corporations as well as on wealthy individuals. The infrastructure needs to be updated through investment in energy efficiency in buildings and houses, promotion of electric vehicles in the automobile sector as well as enhancing of conservation efforts in the farming sector.
The climate plan is expected to not only enable the electric grid to be completely free of fossil fuels that powers it today but also to give a push to renewable sources of energy whose price has plummeted over the past ten years. For instance, price of solar energy has plunged by a record 89 percent and the price of onshore wind has nosedived by 70 percent. The implication is that it is cheaper today to invest in renewable energy to power the electric grid rather than using coal plants which contribute to carbon emissions released into the air.
Conclusion:
America’s return to the Paris agreement is fruitful as it is the second largest emitter in the world. US’ policy with regards to climate change will significantly impact whether the global economy is able to transition towards renewable energy and thereby limit the average temperature rise to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The new government at the White House has clearly communicated the fact that it is taking climate change seriously unlike the previous government which denied it and rollbacked several provisions which were put in place to limit environmental degradation. Re-joining the Paris agreement is the just the first step and much work needs to be done if the world is to achieve its twin goals of reducing carbon emissions as well as transition to a greener economy.
End Notes
3)https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/here-are-all-the-climate-actions-biden-took-on-day-one/
4)https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-sign-executive-actions-climate-change-n1255814
6)https://www.vox.com/22242572/biden-climate-change-plan-explained
7)https://www.wwdmag.com/contaminants/biden-pick-michael-regan-run-us-epa
10)https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063719905
12)https://theweek.com/articles/966321/biden-warms-green-new-deal
Pic Courtesy-UN News
(The views expressed are personal views of the author.)
