Announcements from WH on Climate Change - putting it under a National Security Threat, and taking a lot of actions to get moving on it, and combining it with a clean-energy industries - transportation, agriculture, infrastructure.
President Joe Biden is set to sign several executive orders to tackle climate change and transition to a clean energy economy, the White House said.
The executive actions include establishing climate change as a national security priority, conserving at least 30% of federal land and oceans by 2030 and canceling new oil and gas leases on public lands and waters.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday is set to sign several executive orders to tackle climate change and transition the country to a clean energy economy, the White House said.
The executive actions include establishing climate change as a national security priority, conserving at least 30% of federal land and oceans by 2030 and canceling new oil and gas leases on public lands and waters, according to a review of the orders released by the administration.
Biden’s executive agenda will also focus on creating green jobs and union opportunities as well as environmental justice for communities disproportionally impacted by climate change.
The administration said the climate actions will build modern and sustainable infrastructure while restoring scientific integrity in the federal government. The orders further the president’s agenda to cut carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 2035 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Biden, who has staffed the White House with a historic number of climate experts, signed an order last week to rejoin the U.S. into the Paris climate accord, a landmark agreement among nations to curb their emissions. He also canceled construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the U.S.
The president plans to deliver remarks and sign the orders at 1:30 p.m. ET. Biden’s special climate envoy John Kerry and national climate advisor Gina McCarthy are set to brief reporters on the administration’s plans.
The Biden administration will also convene the Climate Leaders’ Summit on April 22, which will gather global leaders to discuss climate change issues. The summit will likely be remote during the coronavirus pandemic.
TACKLING THE CLIMATE CRISIS AT HOME AND ABROAD EXECUTIVE ORDER
Today’s Executive Order takes bold steps to combat the climate crisis both at home and throughout the world. In signing this Executive Order, President Biden has directed his Administration to:
Center the Climate Crisis in U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security Considerations
The order clearly establishes climate considerations as an essential element of U.S. foreign policy and national security.
The order affirms that, in implementing – and building on – the Paris Agreement’s objectives, the United States will exercise its leadership to promote a significant increase in global ambition. It makes clear that both significant short-term global emission reductions and net zero global emissions by mid-century – or before – are required to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory.
The order reaffirms that the President will host a Leaders’ Climate Summit on Earth Day, April 22, 2021; that the United States will reconvene the Major Economies Forum; that, to underscore the administration’s commitment to elevating climate in U.S. foreign policy, the President has created a new position, the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, which will have a seat on the National Security Council, and that it will be a U.S. priority to press for enhanced climate ambition and integration of climate considerations across a wide range of international fora.
The order also kicks off the process of developing the United States’ “nationally determined contribution” – our emission reduction target – under the Paris Agreement, as well as a climate finance plan.
Among numerous other steps aimed at prioritizing climate in U.S. foreign policy and national security, the order directs the Director of National Intelligence to prepare a National Intelligence Estimate on the security implications of climate change, the State Department to prepare a transmittal package to the Senate for the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, and all agencies to develop strategies for integrating climate considerations into their international work.
Take a Whole-of-Government Approach to the Climate Crisis
The order formally establishes the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy – led by the first-ever National Climate Advisor and Deputy National Climate Advisor – creating a central office in the White House that is charged with coordinating and implementing the President’s domestic climate agenda.
The order establishes the National Climate Task Force, assembling leaders from across 21 federal agencies and departments to enable a whole-of-government approach to combatting the climate crisis.
A community space This thread has ended. The discussion continues: The Latest – Thursday, January 28