WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that America will return to the Paris International Agreement to fight climate change, at the heart of a series of one-day action orders aimed at leading the United States. The US is regenerating in the fight against global warming.
The announcement also included a sweeping order to review all actions taken by former President Donald Trump weakening climate change defenses, restoring vital sanction for a line project oil pipeline TC Energy Keystone XL of Canada, and a moratorium on oil and gas rental activity in the Arctic National Wildlife Refugees that the Trump administration had recently opened to development.
The orders by the newly introduced president mark the beginning of a major policy overhaul in China’s second-largest greenhouse gas emission, after the Trump administration destroying climate science and restoring environmental management to increase fossil fuel development.
Biden has pledged to pave the way for zero-emission emissions by 2050 to match the steep and rapid global cuts that scientists say are needed to mitigate the most devastating effects of global warming. avoid the globe, using loops on fossil fuels and large investments in clean energy.
The path will not be easy, however, with political divisions in the United States, opponents of fossil fuel companies, and cautious international partners about U.S. policy trends blocking the path .
“We’ve gotten off the beaten path for the past four years with climate rejection in the Oval Office,” said John Podesta, an adviser to former President Barack Obama who helped craft the 2015 Paris Agreement “We will enter the international arena with a lack of credit.”
Biden’s orders also call on government agencies to consider a review of vehicle fuel efficiency standards and methane emissions loops, and to examine the possibility of re-expanding the boundaries of deserted national monuments reduced in size by the Trump administration.
While environmental advocates were very pleased with the orders, they were made by industry groups and custodians.
Alaska Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy has mocked Biden’s decision to shut down oil and gas operations at the Arctic National Wildlife Shelter, saying the new president “seems to be doing well promised to turn Alaska into a major national park. “
At the same time, the American Petroleum Institute, the country ‘s leading oil and gas industry lobbying group, said the blockade of the Keystone XL oil pipeline was a “step backwards”.
“This deceptive move will hamper America’s economic recovery, weaken North America’s energy security and tighten ties with one of America’s biggest allies,” said API President Mike Sommers.
Global supporters and climate advocates welcomed Washington’s return to cooperation on climate change, but expressed some skepticism about its staying power and its ability to overcome domestic political turmoil.
Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Paris deal late last year, arguing it was too costly for the U.S. economy.
“The United States remains the only country to have withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, making it, in fact, the pariah of this multilateral agreement,” DA’s deputy head of climate Christiana Figueres, told Reuters .
Biden can regain U.S. credibility by “doing the domestic homework” of ambitious climate activity at home.
Brian Deese, Biden ‘s director of the National Economic Council, told Reuters that the United States hopes to encourage other major distributors to “push the desire, even as we have to show that we can return has shown the platform and leadership. “
Pete Betts, a former think tank at London-based think tank Chatham House, which led climate talks for the European Union when the Paris treaty was struck, said the United States must live up to its commitments. with financial commitments as well.
The United States under Obama pledged $ 3 billion to the Green Climate Fund to help vulnerable countries fight climate change. It has only delivered $ 1 billion so far.
“The U.S. needs to put some money on the table, and encourage others to do the same,” he said.