President-elect Joe Biden’s plans to prioritise climate change signal a complete reversal from the outgoing president’s abolition of climate safeguards, leaving environmentalists hopeful the US can once again lead the fight against global warming.
Mr Biden has already said he will rejoin the Paris Agreement, from which Donald Trump pulled the US back in 2017 in the face of international condemnation.
Mr Biden has been criticised for not committing to Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal. Although the president-elect's plan is more moderate, it remains the most progressive strategy attempted by a US leader to date.
In Mr Biden's climate plan, he pledges to ensure the US achieves a 100 per cent clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050. He also lays out a strategy to develop regional climate resilience plans in partnership with local universities and national science laboratories, as well as fully integrating climate change into foreign policy.
Mr Biden plans to spend $2 trillion over four years to drive down emissions, primarily by upgrading old buildings to make them more energy efficient. He will also invest heavily in public transport and electric vehicles, which would also create jobs.
-
US Vice President Joe Biden reacts as reporters shout questions asking if he has made a decision on whether to run for President as he awaits the arrival of the South Korean President for lunch at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, October 15, 2015. AFP -
Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Governor Sarah Palin greet moderator Gwen Ifill during the vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri October 2, 2008. Reuters -
US President-elect Senator Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Senator Joe Biden stand with Biden's mother Jean during their election night victory rally in Chicago, November 4, 2008. Reuters -
US President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, Vice President Joseph Biden and his wife Jill are escorted by Major General Richard Rowe as they review the troops from the steps of the US Capitol Building after Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States during the 56th presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington January 20, 2009. Reuters -
Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden sits with kids from the Union Baptist Crusaders drill team during an event at the Brown Derby Ballroom in Waterloo, Iowa, US, December 5, 2019. Reuters -
Democratic 2020 US presidential candidates Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former US Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders, walk arm-in-arm with local African-American leaders during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in Columbia, South Carolina, US, January 20, 2020. Reuters -
US Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden is licked by a dog as he chats with supporters after speaking at his party after the Nevada Caucus in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, February 22, 2020. Reuters -
US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks to reporters after a brief stop at the Villas at Horizon Village in North Charleston, South Carolina, 24 February, 2020. EPA -
Democratic presidential candidates former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, and businessman Tom Steyer stand together on stage at the start of the tenth Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, 25 February, 2020. EPA -
Democratic US presidential candidates Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders do an elbow bump in place of a handshake as they greet other before the start of the 11th Democratic candidates debate of the 2020 US presidential campaign, held in CNN's Washington studios without an audience because of the global coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, March 15, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden walks off the stage at the conclusion of the tenth Democratic 2020 presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, February 25, 2020. Reuters -
US Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden poses for a picture with Pastor of the Bethel AME Church, Rev. Dr. Silvester S. Beaman and attendees during a visit to the Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Delaware, June 1, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign stop in Detroit, Michigan, March 9, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks about President Donald Trump's response to protests and rioting across the United States as he stands under photos of former Philadelphia mayors during an event at City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. June 2, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden listens to Carlette Brooks as she wipes away tears and talks about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on her family and their small businesses on the outside patio of the Carlette’s Hideaway sports bar during a campaign stop in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, June 17, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden, vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff pose keeping social distance after a campaign event, their first joint appearance since Biden named Harris as his running mate, at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Delaware, August 12, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden appears by video feed from Delaware to question voters about their situations in this video frame grab from the start of the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention as participants from across the country are hosted over video links to the originally planned site of the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 17, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden celebrate in front of fireworks after Joe Biden accepted the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination during the 4th and final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 20, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden, US Senator and Democratic candidate for Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff celebrate after Joe Biden accepted the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination during the 4th and final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 20, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden meets with steel workers at a backyard during a visit to Detroit, Michigan, September 9, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden holds a copy of his schedule and notes as he delivers remarks during a campaign event in Warren, Michigan, September 9, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to CJ Brown as he makes a brief stop at "Three Thirteen" clothing store to buy a few items for his grandchildren while visiting Detroit, Michigan, September 9, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence greet each other during the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. Reuters -
Senator Kamala Harris and US Vice President Mike Pence both gesture as they debate during the Vice Presidential debate at the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 7, 2020. EPA -
President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden participate in the final presidential debate at Belmont University, Thursday, October 22, 2020, in Nashville, Tennessee. AP -
Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks as former US President Barack Obama listens during a campaign canvas kickoff in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, October 31, 2020. Reuters -
US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participate in their final 2020 presidential campaign debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, October 22, 2020. Reuters -
Motorists celebrate after the 2020 presidential election is called for President-elect Joe Biden, Saturday, November 7, in Philadelphia. AP -
Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Harris, President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden on stage together, Saturday, November 7, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. AP -
With tears in her eyes, Alyssa Oemlenart, of San Francisco, listens in San Francisco to a broadcast of President-elect Joe Biden as he speaks after winning the presidential election, November 7, 2020. AP
"The most important thing for the incoming Biden-Harris administration to remember is that young people and people of colour delivered this victory," Adrien Salazar, senior campaign strategist for climate equity at think tank Demos, told The National.
“Moreover, Joe Biden ran on environmental justice and climate justice. This means he goes into the presidency with a clear mandate to act on the climate crisis now and to do so in a way that protects and invests in the communities that ... experience the worst of the climate crisis.”
Mr Biden has leant heavily on his pledges to address the disproportionate effect climate change has on communities of colour.
“While everyone is already feeling the effects of climate change, the impacts – on health, economics, and overall quality of life – are far more acute on communities of colour, tribal lands, and low-income communities,” his plan reads.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to the way in which environmental burdens and benefits have been and will continue to be distributed unevenly along racial and socioeconomic lines – not just with respect to climate change, but also pollution of our air, water, and land.”
Renate Brillinger, executive director of California Climate and Agriculture Network, highlighted the need to address not just issues experienced by communities of colour, but by farmworkers of colour in particular.
"Farmworkers are the backbone of American agriculture, and are very vulnerable ... to climate change impacts such as heatwaves and wildfire smoke," he told The National.
“There is also evidence that climate change increases the harmful effects of pesticide use, a chronic workplace hazard.”
During his presidential campaign, Mr Biden received official endorsement from the United Farm Workers, a labour union that represents thousands of agricultural workers, in the hope he would protect the group.
“Our family farmers and ranchers were already fighting an uphill battle because of Trump’s irresponsible trade policies and consistent siding with oil lobbyists over American growers,” Mr Biden recently said during a presidential debate.
To address the climate crisis while safeguarding the nation’s food security, the administration needs to tackle immigration reform, Mr Billinger said.
"[This will] ensure greater economic security for farmworkers, fund healthy soils practices that help farmers transition away from chemical inputs, and invest in health care and adequate housing to protect those who grow our food.”
Although Mr Biden has pledged to ban fracking on federal land, it will not actually make much difference: 90 per cent of fracking occurs on state or private land.
Mr Biden has a challenge ahead of him when it comes to pushing climate laws through a Republican-led Senate. But Mr Salazar insisted this should not detract the president-elect from achieving climate justice “right away” in order to “start having a material impact on making people’s lives and futures healthier”.
Mr Salazar pointed to shutting down pipelines through indigenous territories such as Keystone XL, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and Line 3.
Demos even outlined a roadmap for the incoming administration demonstrating how Mr Biden can prioritise environmental justice, which has been signed by more than 120 environmental groups. Suggestions include protecting frontline communities from industrial and environmental pollution, and reaffirming executive order 12898, which was signed by Bill Clinton in 1994 and required federal agencies to address environmental effects on minority and low-income populations.
