Hope and Action — Georgia, Climate, and Us

As soon as Biden and Harris take office there are some positive steps they can take right away with regard to climate change, even while we are dealing with COVID, racism, and the economy.  The President- and Vice-President-elect have made some good plans and commitments, and we can build public support/pressure for them to go even further.  Winning the two U.S. Senate seats in the run-off election on January 5th in Georgia will make so much more possible, but we can also take heart from what presidential action alone can achieve.  Executive orders can be issued by the President in many areas without Congressional approval and can have far-reaching effects.

Georgia now
Many of us are writing letters and postcards, making phone calls, making donations to help the Democratic candidates, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, win the U.S. Senate run-off elections in Georgia.  I hope you will find a way to join us.  Every little bit helps.  These elections will have more impact on what is possible in the U.S. with regard to climate, racial justice, economic recovery, health care, and more, than anything else on the horizon right now.

Biden’s climate commitments
Meanwhile, now that Biden has been elected, what does that mean for climate action?  Let’s remember that while Biden doesn’t have a history as a strong climate leader, he has moved significantly and demonstrated a willingness to move.  After he won the nomination, he created joint policy teams composed of his supporters and representatives from Bernie Sanders’ campaign.  The climate team included both Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Varshini Prakash, the Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement.  The revised policy recommendations, adopted by Biden, still weren’t everything I would have wanted, but they included a call for a $1.7 trillion investment in clean energy and green jobs in the first 4 years; spending 40% of that in communities of color and low income communities; linking the post-COVID economic recovery stimulus jobs to a sustainable just transition; getting the U.S. power grid fossil-free by 2035; and the entire economy to net zero emissions by 2050.

The President-elect also committed to getting the U.S. back in the Paris Climate Accords on day one of his administration.   Since the election he has announced the creation of a new international climate envoy position and named John Kerry, former Secretary of State, to it — to work collaboratively with other nations on climate action.  It will take time to rebuild the credibility of the U.S. on climate, but these are important steps.

Other immediate steps
The New York Times reports that the incoming administration “is already drafting orders to reduce planet-warming pollution and seeking nominees who will embed climate policy not only in environmental agencies but in departments from Defense to Treasury to Transportation.”  Biden’s team is routinely asking “is the person climate-ambitious?” as they consider candidates for positions throughout the government.  “The president-elect has raised climate change in all of the congratulatory calls he has taken with foreign leaders.”

The President-elect has now pledged to sign 10 climate-related executive orders on his first day in office.  They will direct federal agencies to immediately begin the regulatory process to limit methane pollution from oil and gas operations, establish new higher fuel economy standards that will lead to all new cars and light trucks being electric, ensure that U.S. government buildings and facilities are more efficient and climate-ready, and require that every federal infrastructure investment reduces climate pollution.

Beyond the first day
Beyond these steps on day one, executive orders can also have very significant impact on drilling for gas and oil on public lands and offshore, regulation of the financial industry to reduce or eliminate financing for fossil fuel projects, and recreating and empowering the EPA Office of Environmental Justice that Trump eliminated. 

Congress will need to be involved to take climate action beyond what’s possible with executive orders and regulations.  Perhaps a COVID relief package that includes green jobs and infrastructure will be possible as the need for economic stimulus becomes more and more obvious.  In any case, an active, vocal public will be key.

What we can do
The Biden Administration will not be unwilling to take action on climate, but it will need to be pushed.  Too often, progressives in the United States have focused on the presidential election and then, once the election is over, pulled back and been less involved until 4 years later when the next presidential election comes along.  This time we will need to stay active throughout the year and beyond if we want sufficiently bold climate action. Only such action can prevent the worst of the growing worldwide climate disaster.

We are not running an occasional sprint.  We are running a marathon.  A marathon of effective action for climate and social justice.  I recommend that if you are a member of a climate organization, you contact them and ask how you can help strengthen and build the organization.  If you are not a member of a climate organization, please join one that includes racial justice in their agenda, and support their efforts to move climate justice forward.

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The photo above, taken in western Massachusetts, is by Amy Vernon-Jones.

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