January 27 U.S. President Biden signed a number of decrees at the White House on the 27th, announcing a series of policy measures to address climate change.
He said that his government would put the response to the climate crisis at the center of U.S. foreign policy and national security.
“We can’t wait any longer to deal with the climate change crisis. We can see clearly with our own eyes. We know from the bottom of our bones that it is time to act. Biden, who has been in office for a week, said on the 27th when signing an executive order called “Addressing the climate change crisis at home and abroad”.
The main title of the first part of the executive order states that “place the response to the climate crisis at the center of U.S. foreign policy and national security”.
In the executive order, Biden said that climate change considerations would be an “essential element” in his government’s formulation of foreign and national security policies.
Within the framework of the Group of Seven and the Group of 20, the United States will cooperate with other countries through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms, giving priority to promoting cooperation in addressing climate change and clean energy.
Biden also announced that the United States will host the Climate Change Summit on Earth Day on April 22, using this opportunity to reconvene the world’s major economies for energy and climate change forums.
The executive order also said that the United States will immediately begin the process of formulating its nationally owned contribution in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
The United States will also immediately start to develop a climate financing plan, using multilateral and bilateral channels to help developing countries achieve emission reduction targets.
Jody Freeman, a professor of environmental law at Harvard University and a former White House climate change consultant, commented that Biden’s plan was a “guidebook for action” for U.S. government agencies, “The message of these orders is, ‘We want to rescind the previous administration’s weakening environmental policy'”.
On the domestic policy side, Biden ordered a shift in the U.S. economy’s heavy reliance on fossil energy and encourage the development of clean energy.
The United States will suspend lease permits for oil and gas extraction on federal land and provide subsidies to affected industries.
The Biden administration has also set a series of targets to combat climate change, including protecting 30% of the land and waters of the United States over the next 10 years, supporting the development of wind energy offshore the United States, and using electric vehicles for all federal official vehicles.
Biden said that the United States plans to achieve zero carbon emissions from the power industry by 2035 and carbon neutrality by 2050.
Once the ambitious plan of the Biden administration was put forward, it was opposed by congressional Republicans and the petrochemical and energy business community.
They believe that this series of measures will hurt the U.S. economy and cause a large number of workers to lose their jobs.
The Associated Press pointed out that Biden’s above-mentioned measures will pose political risks to his presidency and the Democratic Party.
Because once the United States significantly increases the use of clean energy, it will cause states with oil and coal extraction as the mainstay of the economy to face unemployment.
Biden also recognizes the doubts and costs of promoting a “green economy”.
He mentioned “employment” 15 times in the executive order and repeatedly emphasized the employment opportunities created by the United States in the renewable energy and electric vehicle industries to offset the losses in the oil, coal or gas industries.
In his speech, he stressed, “Today is the White House’s ‘Day to Fight Climate Change’ and also the White House’s ‘Job Security Day’.”
