Biden's climate report card
Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202! Your regular author, Maxine Joselow, will be back Monday. In todays edition of information we didnt know we needed, but are so glad we do: What to do if you get attacked by bees? Run in a straight line, find an enclosed space and dont jump into water. Not a subscriber? Sign up for The Climate 202 to get scoops and sharp analysis in your inbox each morning. Below, well dive into the latest permitting overhaul push from Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) and John Barrasso (Wyo.) But first: Mainstream environmentalists coalesced around President Biden in 2020 despite initial misgivings. But now that hes running for a second term, theyre airing concerns that hes falling short on his ambitious climate promises. I think there's going to need to be a lot that he does in order to win trust back with young people and be able to mobilize them at the same rate that he did in 2020, Michele Weindling , the Sunrise Movement s electoral director, told The Climate 202. Last week Biden officially announced his 2024 bid for reelection , saying in a video that he wants to finish the job he started. On the campaign trail in 2020, Biden vowed to be the nations first climate president, and when he took office he pledged to cut the nations greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. But polls suggest that few Democrats are enthusiastic about Biden, even if they still think he has the best chance of defeating a Republican. And although Biden enacted numerous environmental regulations and helped push through the Inflation Reduction Act, many green groups want the president to do more. Rhetoric and more promises of great things to come in a second term are not enough, Kieran Suckling , president of the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund , said in a statement. Biden needs to start acting with true boldness and urgency today. Where has Biden disappointed climate activists? Weindling points to the Biden administrations recent pro-fossil-fuel dealings, including the approval of a massive oil project in Alaska and an embrace of liquefied natural gas exports to help the European Union move away from Russian oil. Lets take a spin through things activists want from Biden if he wins a second term. Lena Moffitt , executive director of Evergreen Action, said Biden has made historic climate achievements, bigger than any president in our history. But she also said Biden has been slow to actually meet many of his own commitments. As a candidate in 2020, Biden vowed to end new oil drilling on federal land and later cautioned that such a transition would happen over time. Moffitt said she wants explicit promises from Biden that hell stop allowing new fossil fuel infrastructure in a second term. A coalition of youth-led organizations including the Sunrise Movement, March for Our Lives, Gen Z for Change and United We Dream Action also sent a joint letter to Biden last week criticizing the administrations recent approvals of fossil fuel projects, including ConocoPhillips s Willow oil drilling project in Alaska. Approving a project like that really went back on the climate promises he made on the campaign trail, and that's a real threat to his ability to mobilize young people in 2024, Weindling said, referencing his pledge that every federal infrastructure investment would account for climate change. Democrats and Republicans agree the nations current permitting system for energy projects needs to be updated. Where they differ, however, is in the kinds of projects that deserve speeding up. When the new climate law was being negotiated, Biden and Democratic leadership reached a deal with Sen. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.) to pass legislation to speed up the approval process for new energy projects in exchange for his support of the Inflation Reduction Act. Bottom line: If Biden wants to reach the goals laid out in the new climate law, hell need bipartisan permitting reform. I think that as much as hes talked about wanting permitting reform, I think there needs to be a better faith engagement with the Republicans on what that actually looks like, said Christopher Barnard , vice president of external affairs for the American Conservation Coalition , a conservative climate advocacy group. The IRA is useless without permitting reform, he said. The devil is in the details: Other green groups agreed, but cautioned that any kind of permitting overhaul must first prioritize environmental justice. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) on Thursday introduced two bills meant to speed up the approval process for new energy projects, including one focused on implementing time limits for the environmental review process. The proposals come as Democrats and Republicans agree that the nations permitting system needs a makeover, but the parties differ in their priorities. On Tuesday, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) reintroduced his own all-of-the-above permitting overhaul measure from last year. I think we can be a lot quicker here than what most people would think simply because we have been in negotiations for a long time on this, Capito told reporters, referring to reaching a bipartisan deal. I would hope we could get to something in the summer. Meanwhile, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) said Thursday that he plans to introduce his version of permitting reform legislation, centered on lowering emissions and including communities in the decision process a more climate-focused approach than Manchins. We have an opportunity to pass meaningful reforms that support the deployment of clean energy projects across our nation and uphold essential environmental protections, Carper said in a statement. Officials in Alabama discriminated against Black residents in a rural county by denying them access to sufficient sanitation systems, imposing burdensome fines and ignoring serious health risks, according to a landmark environmental justice agreement announced Thursday by the Biden administration, The Washington Posts Brady Dennis reports. The agreement comes 18 months after the federal government launched a probe into the sanitation issues facing Lowndes. Their investigation was sparked by years of complaints about sewage backups caused by failing septic tanks and increased flooding linked to climate change. Officials from the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services found that the Alabama Department of Public Health s enforcement of sanitation laws threatened residents of Lowndes County with criminal penalties and even potential property loss for sanitation conditions they did not have the capacity to alleviate. Alabama health officials were aware of the disproportionate burden and impact the problems imposed on the health of Lowndes residents, investigators said, but they failed to take meaningful actions to remedy these conditions. In a statement, the state health agency said that it has never conducted its on-site sewage or infectious diseases and outbreaks programs in a discriminatory manner and looks forward to implementing the agreement to benefit the community. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) on Thursday vetoed a bill aimed at encouraging residents to heat their homes with renewables rather than fossil fuels, in the latest development in the wars over the future of gas in household appliances, the Associated Press reports. Heres the bottom line: The risk to Vermonters and our economy throughout the state is too great; the confusion around the language and the unknowns are too numerous; and we are making real and measurable progress reducing emissions with a more thoughtful, strategic approach that is already in motion, Scott wrote in his veto letter to lawmakers, adding that the Affordable Heat Act would give too much authority to the unelected Public Utilities Commission . He vetoed a similar bill last year, and an override failed by one vote in the House. Democrats now have a solid majority in both chambers, but it remains unclear whether the measure has enough support to override this veto. 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