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President Biden delivers remarks during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate at the White House on April 23, 2021.
President Biden delivers remarks during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate at the White House on April 23, 2021. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Image)

What Biden鈥檚 Done for the Climate in His First 100 Days

The 46th president made big promises to move the United States toward a carbon-free future. What he鈥檚 accomplished so far has been impressive, but can he keep up the momentum?

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President Biden delivers remarks during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate at the White House on April 23, 2021.
(Photo: Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Image)

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Since his first few days on the campaign trail, Joe Biden has held the line that addressing the climate crisis is one of his , 鈥渢he number one issue facing humanity.鈥 In January, in anticipation of his inauguration, 国产吃瓜黑料 published an ambitious outline for what we thought Biden聽should do to steer the United States聽out of its Trump-era nosedive听补苍诲 protect the planet and country from impending fiery doom (or at least to try to slow the burning).

Now, President Biden is 100 days into his term, and we鈥檙e not just speculating anymore. 鈥淭he Biden administration has hit the ground running.聽I鈥檓 really pleasantly surprised at the speed at which they鈥檙e moving,鈥 says Aaron Weiss, deputy director at the nonpartisan conservation group . 鈥淲hen you look at the concrete actions that they鈥檙e taking, they鈥檝e gotten an amazing amount of stuff done in a short amount of time.鈥

So, what has the Biden administration accomplished for the climate and environment since taking office? And where does it have work to do? Here鈥檚 our report card on Biden鈥檚 first 100 days.聽

What He鈥檚 Gotten Done

Within hours of taking the oath of office, President Biden signed a slew of environmentally focused executive orders. He (more on that later), canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, and committed to upholding environmental justice. 鈥淲e always hear about day one objectives, but they literally did it,鈥 says Nat Keohane, senior vice president for climate at the 听补苍诲 on energy and environment during the Obama administration. 鈥淗e had half a day in the White House, and it was on the docket. Right out of the gate, this administration made it clear that they were really putting climate at the center.鈥

Personnel is politics, and Keohane says the Biden administration has across the board, from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm听迟辞 National Economic Council director Brian Deese, the former head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, the world鈥檚 biggest asset manager.聽鈥淗aving someone with that depth of understanding advising on the economy is huge,鈥 Keohane says.

For those of us who prize public lands, Deb Haaland鈥檚 appointment as secretary of the interior was extremely impactful, and she鈥檚 already come out with . The first 聽that her team found to be inconsistent with science and public health, including Trump rules that opened up and expedited drilling on federal lands听补苍诲 a Trump order that diminished the power of the National Environmental Policy Act, which ensures that environmental impacts are considered in any federal projects. 鈥淭hose previous orders unfairly tilted the balance of public land and ocean management toward extractive uses without regard for climate change, equity, or community engagement,鈥 Haaland said in a .听听

Weiss says that revocation might seem backward-looking, but it鈥檚 really a huge step forward. 鈥淭hat order does a lot to wipe the slate clean so the agencies can get back to following the law, consistent with the best science. It鈥檚 huge just in terms of the number of bad things that it removes,鈥 Weiss says. Then, looking forward, Haaland established a climate task force within the Department of the Interior, which, among other things, will incorporate the social cost of carbon into the department鈥檚 work. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a big change, even just from the sheer scope of what they touch,鈥 Weiss says.

Finally, it鈥檚 not just the president and the cabinet working toward emission reductions. Congress used the 听迟辞 a Trump EPA rule to limit regulations on , a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon.

What鈥檚 Still in Process

One hundred days goes by fast, so many plans and policies are still in the works. The most significant one鈥攚hich will trickle into many aspects of how we live, move, and grow鈥攊s the president鈥檚 to 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, which he announced at a summit of on Earth Day. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big deal. It puts us in the top tier of ambition globally, well on target to meet net zero by 2050, which science demands,鈥 Keohane says. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 a huge amount to do to implement that.鈥

We have the technology to get to those targets.聽We just need the funding, plans, and political will. Those are rolled, in part, into that President Biden proposed in March, which 听补苍诲 includes funding for electric vehicles, a revamped power grid, climate research, and much more. It鈥檚 ambitious and expensive, but the president is touting it as a way to heal the economy and the climate at the same time. 鈥淭his is about all the ways that investing in climate means better jobs, healthier communities, and more equity,鈥 Keohane says. A significant amount of money is聽earmarked for climate resilience, including $450 million for tribes听补苍诲 $161 million for agriculture.

Land conservation and designation is another big ball in the air. Secretary Haaland recently visited Bears Ears National Monument, protection for which has bounced聽back and forth between the previous two administrations. She鈥檚 expected to make a recommendation soon. Zooming out, Biden has committed to preserving , and Weiss says the so-called 30-by-30 plan will have a huge bearing on how land is preserved聽 and how conservation can connect public and private land. He believes it should be a bottom-up process that involves Indigenous, private, state, and city lands to protect landscapes in a collaborative structure.

Weiss says the other big policy change in play on public land is oil and gas leasing, which the Biden administration has paused and is still reevaluating. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a giant ball of yarn to unwind, but they鈥檙e taking the right steps in terms of considering greenhouse gas emissions听补苍诲 total cost of carbon,鈥 he says. Weiss has his eye on well bonding and royalties听补苍诲 how the Interior Department is proposing to fix听补苍诲 modernize聽the leasing system. And he鈥檚 hopeful that Congress will come together to pass new bipartisan regulations. A bill to modernize royalty rates was , a seven-term Republican senator from Iowa聽who has historically . That kind of cross-aisle bill could be a sign of turning tides.听听

Where He鈥檚 Floundering

While Biden has set serious carbon reduction goals听补苍诲 announced impressive future plans, he hasn鈥檛 been as decisive on curbing existing pipeline projects, like in northern Minnesota, which Indigenous groups have asked him to stop聽because it threatens their water and ancestral lands听补苍诲 will add to the atmosphere each year. If we鈥檙e going to hit those science-based targets to cut emissions鈥攁nd respect tribal sovereignty鈥攖he federal government has to move quickly and decisively to stop carbon-based projects like Line 3.聽

But the biggest stumbling block to emission reductions is Congress, where Republicans in the lockjawed Senate have said they won鈥檛 pass any sort of climate policy. Democrat Joe Manchin, from red-leaning West Virginia, will likely be the deciding vote on infrastructure and about anything involving green energy. Biden鈥檚 infrastructure plan , which would require power utilities to generate electricity using entirely carbon-free sources by 2035. On April 26, a group of 150 businesses and environmental groups to Biden and congressional leaders, underlining the fact that it鈥檚 broadly popular. But the bill still has to pass through Congress. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 let Congress off the hook. There鈥檚 a lot the administration can鈥檛 do without 60 votes,鈥 Keohane says. 鈥淚f we want to meet that 50 percent reduction goal, the most important sector will be the power sector, and that will take policy to set an enforceable limit on .鈥澛

Keohane says his other concern is the administration maintaining momentum and following through on its targets. 鈥淭his needs to be a four-year effort, not just 100 days,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 was there in the Obama years, so I know that every term a crisis will come up. The challenge in the face of that is keeping climate at the top of the list听补苍诲 central to the agenda.鈥 Time is crucial when it comes to addressing climate change and environmental degradation. Biden and his team have been moving impressively fast so far, but the rest of his term will have to be both a marathon and a sprint.聽

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