![]() ![]() "Now is the time for the Biden administration to build on and accelerate the progress made in their first year," said Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental group. 'Come out swinging'įor environmentalists, Biden's very presence in the White House marked an important turning point in the climate fight. His predecessor, former President Donald Trump, sought to dismantle the federal government's ability to address climate change and took a series of executive actions in line with that philosophy, including removing the U.S. #FUEL DRILLING PLANS UNDERMINE CLIMATE PLEDGES SERIES# from Paris Climate Accord - a move that Biden reversed on his first day in office. ![]() ![]() Under Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency also took steps to loosen emissions standards put in place during the Obama administration - another measure that Biden has since reversed. "We were super excited for President Biden - who ran on what was the most aggressive and ambitious climate agenda ever - to come out swinging," said Pierce. "The level of ambition, scope, and breadth of what he was tackling was extraordinary."īut since those early days of the Biden administration, his climate victories have been blunted by setbacks. While experts say the Biden administration has made meaningful progress on climate issues ranging from emissions standards to fossil fuel extraction, environmentalists also see inconsistencies - actions from the administration that seem to undermine the president's own pledges and rhetoric. On the use of federal lands and waters, for example, the administration garnered praise from environmentalists when the Department of Interior suspended its controversial oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the summer of 2021. "It's hard to imagine a more dangerous, hypocritical action in the aftermath of the climate summit," said Kristen Monsell, a lawyer for the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity.Īdministration officials justified the decision to move forward with the lease sale by citing a court order to do so, despite claims from environmentalists that they were under no such obligation.Īnd just last week, the White House announced plans to open up large swaths of New York and New Jersey coastal waters for renewable wind infrastructure, which experts say will eventually produce enough energy to power two million homes.īut those developments have been overshadowed by the Biden administration's auctioning off of large swaths of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling, a decision that will serve to "perpetuate climate pollution from public lands instead of reduce it," according to Huntley.īiden pledged to end new drilling on federal lands during his presidential campaign, and just days before the lease sale in November, he encouraged every nation at the Glasgow COP26 Climate Conference to "do its part" to solve the climate crisis. On Wednesday, environmental groups sent a legal petition calling on the administration to cease oil and gas production on public lands by 2035. ![]() The Department of Interior did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Vehicle emissions have also emerged as a source of contention. The EPA under Biden recently proposed the most aggressive limits on pollution from cars and light trucks in history, mandating higher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles starting in 2023. Experts welcomed the measure and took stock of its significance. "The Biden administration has clear authority to take back the Line 3 permit," said Dillen. "The real difference between these two pipelines appears to be a political calculus. #FUEL DRILLING PLANS UNDERMINE CLIMATE PLEDGES SERIES#. ![]()
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