Biden Refocusing National Security Around Climate Change — Here’s What His Latest Executive Orders D

[mystery-ak]

Biden Refocusing National Security Around Climate Change — Here’s What His Latest Executive Orders Do


Christian Datoc
Senior White House Correspondent
January 27, 2021 10:14 AM ET


President Joe Biden will sign a series of new executive orders Wednesday that will formally place a new national security focus on climate change and promote scientists’ work on the subject, the White House announced Wednesday morning.

“President Biden set ambitious goals that will ensure America and the world can meet the urgent demands of the climate crisis, while empowering American workers and businesses to lead a clean energy revolution that achieves a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and puts the United States on an irreversible path to a net-zero economy by 2050,” the official release from the WhiteHouse reads.

“Today’s actions advance those goals and ensure that we are tapping into the talent, grit, and innovation of American workers, revitalizing the U.S. energy sector, conserving our natural resources and leveraging them to help drive our nation toward a clean energy future, creating well-paying jobs with the opportunity to join a union, and delivering justice for communities who have been subjected to environmental harm,” it continued.

The first order, titled “Tackling The Climate Crisis At Home And Abroad,” contains seven specific directives:

    Center the Climate Crisis in U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security Considerations
    Take a Whole-of-Government Approach to the Climate Crisis
    Leverage the Federal Government’s Footprint and Buying Power to Lead by Example
    Rebuild Our Infrastructure for a Sustainable Economy
    Advance Conservation, Agriculture, and Reforestation
    Revitalize Energy Communities
    Secure Environmental Justice and Spur Economic Opportunity

A second order will establish the “President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology,” and an additional presidential memorandum “directs agencies to make evidence-based decisions guided by the best available science and data.”

The full text of the orders were not published by press time.

more
https://dailycaller.com/2021/01/27/biden-refocusing-national-security-around-climate-change-heres-what-his-latest-executive-orders-do/

[Elderberry]

Biden aims for most ambitious US effort on climate change

WBTV 1/27/2021

https://www.wbtv.com/2021/01/27/biden-aims-most-ambitious-us-effort-climate-change/

The orders awaiting his signature target federal subsidies for oil and other fossil fuels and halt new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters. They also intend to conserve 30 percent of the country’s lands and ocean waters in the next 10 years and move to an all-electric federal vehicle fleet.

Biden has set a goal of eliminating pollution from fossil fuel in the power sector by 2035 and from the U.S. economy overall by 2050, speeding what is already a market-driven growth of solar and wind energy and lessening the country’s dependence on oil and gas. The ambitious plan is aimed at slowing human-caused global warming that is magnifying extreme weather events such as deadly wildfires in the West and drenching rains and hurricanes in the East. But the rapid pace of change needed to stave off global warming also carries political risk for the president and Democrats overall.

In a change from previous administrations of both parties, Biden also is directing agencies to focus help and investment on the low-income and minority communities that live closest to polluting refineries and other hazards, and the oil- and coal-patch towns that face job losses as the U.S. moves to sharply increase its reliance on wind, solar and other other energy sources that do not emit climate-warming greenhouse gases.

Biden also is elevating climate change to a national security priority. The conservation plan would set aside millions of acres for recreation, wildlife and climate efforts by 2030 as part of Biden’s campaign pledge for a $2 trillion program to slow global warming.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

These flashcards will help you memorize Biden’s climate team

Grist By Alexandria Herr on Jan 27, 2021

https://grist.org/politics/biden-climate-cabinet-john-kerry-janet-yellen-pete-buttigieg/

President Biden has only been in office for a week, but he’s already setting the tone for his new administration’s approach to climate action — from bringing the U.S. back into the Paris Agreement to ordering federal agencies to recalculate the social cost of carbon. To understand Biden’s climate strategy, it’s also worth keeping a close eye on Biden’s proposed Cabinet (and Cabinet-level) appointees. Many of the Senate confirmation hearings for those positions started last week.

Democrats’ tenuous control of Congress has made a Green New Deal-style climate omnibus bill unlikely, so Biden will need to rely on his Cabinet choices to help deliver on his climate goals. We put together an illustrated guide to who’s who for Biden’s top 10 climate-relevant Cabinet nominees.

Deb Haaland, secretary of the interior



Deb Haaland, a U.S. representative from New Mexico and member of the Pueblo Laguna tribe, is Biden’s pick for secretary of the interior. If confirmed, she will become the first Indigenous Cabinet secretary. As secretary of the interior, Haaland would steward 500 million acres of public lands, manage oil and gas leases, and be tasked with upholding Indigenous treaty rights — a major milestone for an agency that has a history of violence toward Indigenous people.

More at link.

[Hoodat]

So basically, we're ending fracking, cutting back on natural gas production, and returning to coal to close the gap.  Four consecutive years of decreasing CO₂ emissions is about to end under Biden.

[Elderberry]

Biden pledged $2 trillion to slow climate change. Here’s where things stand.

Orlando Sentinel by MATTHEW DALY and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Jan 27, 2021

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/ct-nw-joe-biden-climate-change-20210127-jj4oi6l2wjdtlbhgz567rfmqoq-story.html

“The fossil fuel industry has inflicted tremendous damage on the planet. The administration’s review, if done correctly, will show that filthy fracking and drilling must end for good, everywhere,’' said Kierán Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that has pushed for the drilling pause.

“This is just the start. It will get worse,’' said Brook Simmons, president of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma. “Meanwhile, the laws of physics, chemistry and supply and demand remain in effect. Oil and natural gas prices are going up, and so will home heating bills, consumer prices and fuel costs.’'

A 60-day suspension order at the Interior Department did not limit existing oil and gas operations under valid leases, meaning activity would not come to a sudden halt on the millions of acres of lands in the West and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico where much drilling is concentrated. The freeze also is unlikely to affect existing leases. Its effect could be further blunted by companies that stockpiled enough drilling permits in Trump’s final months to allow them to keep pumping oil and gas for years.

More at link.