Recently, a few friends and I stood around a patio for a makeshift holiday party. We were outside and socially distancing again, and one friend had their new baby with them. Perhaps because there was a tiny human present, with her whole life in front of her, we got to talking about the future and how so many of the scary things we imagined about what climate change would look like became reality聽in 2021.
From last January鈥檚 crippling freezes in Texas to last week鈥檚 , it feels like we鈥檝e been hit with one disaster after another. And the systems that need to change to ensure our future viability have been too slow to respond. But as the new year commences, there are some opportunities to make real progress. Here鈥檚 where the climate and environment stand now, including the problems we most urgently need to address and the things already moving in the right direction.
The Bad:
Species Are in Decline
In September, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed 23 species from the endangered-species list and declared them . That came on the heels of a June 聽announcing that human-caused climate change was making the biodiversity crisis worse. We鈥檝e seen the decline of specific species, like the Florida manatees, which lost of their population to starvation in 2021 because they couldn鈥檛 find enough seagrass. We鈥檝e also had to reckon with this sobering fact: a full 25 percent of what exists on earth, are at risk of extinction. And, as the UN report says, 鈥淏iodiversity loss and climate change are both driven by human economic activities and mutually reinforce each other. Neither will be successfully resolved unless both are tackled together.鈥
Natural Disasters Have Been Getting More Frequent and Intense
Every corner of the country has been hammered by unusually brutal weather events, which scientists say are exacerbated by . June heat domes in the Northwest killed hundreds, and August hurricanes in the Southeast flattened whole towns. 聽touched down from Arkansas to Kentucky in December, and a California wildfire season that kicked off last January raged all year long. In of these natural disasters, we lost at least 500 people and endured more than $18 billion in damages. Weather and climate aren鈥檛 the , but the unusual number and force of these聽deadly weather events indicate聽the effects of a warming climate鈥攁nd how much worse things could get in the future.
Our Energy Infrastructure Is More Vulnerable than Ever
Remember when the Texas electricity grid was clobbered by a winter storm聽in February that cut off power to millions of residents? Well, Texans are today. And the other major grid systems (the U.S.聽) are struggling to protect themselves against current 聽and prepare for future storms.
We鈥檝e also seen that our grids are not prepared for a range of crucial new renewable sources. While now encourage renewable energy, we don鈥檛 yet have the infrastructure to support聽it. We need more that can link to solar and wind power, and we need to find ways to integrate small-scale renewables .
Fossil-Fuel Extraction Is Alive and Well
We know that rapidly retreating from fossil fuels is key to avoiding drastically rising temperatures, but drilling and leasing reform isn鈥檛 progressing very quickly on the federal level. The Biden administration has approved on public land than the previous administration,聽 more than 80 million offshore acres for oil drilling. If we鈥檙e going to steer away from catastrophic temperatures, in the next year we need the president to make good on his to end , and we need the to curb drilling on public land and to reform leasing and permitting fees. Those two doable steps could push us in the right direction on emissions while helping the federal budget.
The West鈥檚 Water Supply Is in Dire Straits
If you want proof that it鈥檚 all connected, our energy system could soon be impacted by the megadrought that鈥檚 been frying most of the western U.S.聽It and the聽shrinking snowpack in the Rockies have sunk the two biggest reservoirs in the country, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, to their , triggering the first聽. And those dropping water levels directly impact Lake Powell鈥檚 Glen Canyon Dam, a major energy source for five million people across the region. Water levels could drop low enough to impact the dam鈥檚 sometime this year.
The Better:
States Are Compromising on Water Use
When the Colorado River water shortage was declared, it triggered the first of a series of cutbacks that states dependent on the river agreed upon in 2019, starting with Arizona receiving less water after January 2022. These states also agreed upon the first-ever voluntary in December. It鈥檚 a sign of compromise and concession in a battle that鈥檚 usually contentious, because the reality is that there soon won鈥檛 be enough to go around.
We鈥檝e Reentered International Climate Conversations
One of President Biden鈥檚 first actions in office was a much celebrated commitment to the Paris climate agreement and reduce U.S. emissions 25 percent by 2025. But we鈥檙e those targets. And unfortunately, international climate discussions have been milquetoast, particularly this year鈥檚 COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, where countries were supposed to revise the Paris agreement. Two of the biggest emitters, China and Russia, didn鈥檛 join, and the new emission-reduction targets aren鈥檛 even close to where we need them to be in order to avoid frying the planet. Plus, no one has been doing a great job of reaching the old goals anyway. Only is where it needs to be.
Congress Has Passed Some Legislation鈥攂ut Stymied Significant Climate Progress
Speaking of milquetoast, Congress had the chance to pass legislation that could address the myriad threats to climate stability, food security, biodiversity, and the rest of our ecological health. But it鈥檚 been a grueling battle to get anything though a tightly locked, partisan Senate. In November, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which addresses issues like clean water and electricity. But West Virginia senator Joe Manchin the Build Back Better Act last month, which would have done most of the to cut back emissions, including tax credits for electric vehicles. Without it we鈥檒l struggle to get anywhere close to the emission levels we need to in order to address warming. And the Biden administration is running out of time to act on climate, as the midterm election could change the balance of Congress.
The Promising:
Electric Vehicles Are Increasingly Popular
There鈥檚 nothing like consumerism to get people fired up about saving the planet. Global sales for electric vehicles are up 80 percent over last year. A group of auto manufacturers鈥攊ncluding Ford, GM, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, and Volvo鈥攈ave聽 for all their new cars to be zero emissions by 2040. And sales are projected to continue to boom in 2022, as car companies roll out an array of new models, from Rivian trucks to compact Chevys.
More People Are Riding Bikes
You know that boom in bike sales聽that happened聽early in the pandemic? People are riding those bikes. Bicycle traffic is across the country, and cities are building new bike lanes to allow for the two-wheeled traffic.
Biden鈥檚 Made Some Great Federal Appointments
Deb Haaland made history when she was appointed interior secretary, becoming the first Native American person to hold the office that oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, among many other departments. In less than a year, she鈥檚 overseen the creation of new solar farms, the restoration of Bears Ears National Monument聽in Utah, and the renaming of culturally insensitive places.
There have been other notable nominations in the federal land-management agencies. In four years, the Trump administration failed to find a confirmable nominee to head the National Park Service. Biden鈥檚 nominee,聽Chuck Sams,聽has a long history in tribal-government and natural-resource management and was quickly confirmed as the head of the Park Service. In October, Tracy Stone-Manning was sworn in as the director of the Bureau of Land Management. She鈥檚 the first person to officially hold that office since the Obama administration, too. Both say that staffing the agencies is a priority. Sams also intends to address infrastructure and access issues, and Stone-Manning is eyeing crucial decarbonization.
Biden Is Rolling Back Much of Trump鈥檚 Dangerous Environmental Deregulation
President Biden reinstated crucial pieces of environmental policy聽that President Trump had weakened or erased, like stringent National Environment Policy Act requirements and . Biden is now turning to the work of bringing back more than a hundred regulations that Trump rolled back, a project that could to accomplish.
Public Lands and Natural Resources Are Regaining Protection
The best news of the last year came in the form of landscape protection. In Utah, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase鈥揈scalante National Monuments were restored, Alaska鈥檚 was protected from a proposed mine. Oil leases were suspended in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and old-growth trees were protected in British Columbia. The Biden administration鈥檚 America the Beautiful Initiative聽 to conserve 30 percent of the country by 2030, a target that scientists say is important for slowing down climate change. This year we need to continue the momentum for conservation. That will happen via sweeping federal designations, local park preservation, and private-land conservation.
This year feels like a tipping point. The groundwork is in place and we know what we have to do. Now we have to do it.聽