US President Joe Biden this week described the climate crisis facing the planet as an “existential threat.” “We can’t wait any longer. We see it with our own eyes, we feel it. We know it in our bones.”, he claimed.
This is how the newly inaugurated president put this issue at the top of his administration’s agenda after signing a series of executive decrees pThey call climate change a national security priority.
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An issue that former President Donald Trump, a global warming denier, has practically eliminated from the United States’ geopolitical priorities during his presidential term (2017-2021).
That’s the reason Biden wants to regain the influence his country used to have on this issue. “We must lead the global response,” said the Democratic leader.
The announced measures include suspension of new contracts for federal and offshore oil and gas drilling, orders federal agencies to buy electric cars and end fossil fuel subsidies.
The same, Executive order aims for a carbon-free energy sector by 2035 and for the country to continue on “an irreversible path” to a net zero-emission economy by 2050. These decisions also come in addition to the call to convene a climate summit for April 22 and the US return to the Agreement van Paris, an action commissioned by Biden on his first day of work.
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According to the Bloomberg agency, oil and gas companies knew they would face changes with the new US president, “Nobody expected fossil fuels to be attacked so immediately.”
“The industry is shocked by these changes (…). They are more direct, fierce and faster than people expected, ”Dan Eberhart, CEO of oil services company Canary Drilling Services, told Bloomberg.
At the national level, President Biden will have to work with Congress and the private sector to pass new legislation regulating greenhouse gas emissions.
The truth is that climate change is a very urgent matter. In fact, the most recent report from the European Copernicus Service once again raised alarm bells. According to them, 2020 was the hottest year in the world along with 2016, at the end of a decade of record temperatures demonstrating the “urgency” to act against global warming. These effects are already visible all over the planet, for example with the melting of the North Pole and glaciers, exceptional heat waves, torrential rains and record hurricane seasons.
However, Biden faces a series of challenges in executing his agenda and mobilizing his country and the world in the fight against climate change. The United States, the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases (after China), has one of the most powerful mining and energy industries, on which millions of workers depend.
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On the other hand, The country’s economic model is largely based on the use of oil and gas. In addition, the fight against climate change is an issue that also affects other countries of the world, for which coordinated action is essential.
The challenges
That’s why experts think the road will not be easy for Biden. Columbia University professor André Corrêa d’Almeida, development economist (and author of Smarter New York City), explained in dialogue with EL TIEMPO that the US president It will have three fronts to its environmental agenda: the opposition of the Republican Party, the “lobby” of the extractive industries and its relationship with China.
At the national level, President Biden will have to work with Congress (executive orders will not be enough) and the private sector to pass new legislation regulating greenhouse gas emissions for the automotive, energy, oil and gas industries. The focus will not be on elimination, but on innovation, such as The US will try to re-qualify its workforce around renewable energy sources, Dijo Corrêa d’Almeida.
On job creation, Biden argued that improvements in infrastructure and technology to combat global warming will add millions of jobs to the country. The federal actions are intended to complement a $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan that the president is expected to present to Congress next month that, as he promised on Wednesday, will serve as a driver for future economic growth.
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President Biden wants to institute a moderate process that moves the country in that direction, but without harming the traditional economy
But his proposals have already met fierce opponents that will block initiatives going to Congress. According to a study, the federal land decision will leave us without about a million jobs. It’s a great way to start a presidency – massive layoffs of our own citizens. Americans who work in other sectors will also pay, ”Mitch McConnell, Republican leader in the US Senate, said on the matter.
Mike Sommers, executive director of the American Petroleum Institute (API), in turn, said in a call to international agencies that: Despite the fact that Biden shares the goal of fighting climate change, the executive order is “nothing more than a policy to import more crude oil that will weaken US energy leadership,” it will hamper economic recovery and undermine national security. “
Faced with the expected hail of criticism, Biden said when signing the decrees that he will not ban ‘fracking’ (hydraulic fracturing). “(…) We will protect jobs and jobs will grow, including stricter standards such as methane leak control”, He assured.
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Carlos Arévalo, a professor of international law at the University of La Sabana, believed that the US president started with policies to reduce dependence on gas and oil, but with measures to bring about greater change.
Biden was careful. You might think he wants to show himself as a green president, but you have to wait. It is in the effectiveness of its measurements that one can tell if it is real. But it is starting to want to show its government as a green government, ”he added.
Political scientist Orlando Pérez, dean of the University of North Texas Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, for his part, told this paper that the Democrat’s measures could have repercussions for the country as the pandemic affects its economic apparatus. “Changes in energy production, for example in the coal or oil industry, can cause job losses in a large industry for some states, such as Texas, West Virginia, Alaska. And it can also increase energy costs for consumers, ”he said.
He added: “President Biden wants to institute a moderate process that moves the country in that direction, but without harming the traditional economy. (…) The party acknowledges that the consequences of the pandemic cannot move very quickly, but what will happen in the next four years is difficult to predict ”.
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In fact, there is a more radical wing of the Democratic Party, led by lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, pushing for the Green New Deal, an initiative calling for the US to move towards 100 percent clean energy in the next 10 years. .
And although Biden opts for a more moderate position for the time being, his measures don’t stop there. We must not forget that, as reported by The New York Times, Biden named “the largest team of climate change experts ever in the White House”. They include veterans of US politics such as former Secretary of State John Kerry, who was appointed the international climate envoy, and environmentalist Gina McCarthy, who will no doubt push for more change for the country.
In fact, the United States is expected to announce at the Climate Leaders Summit that more ambitious goals should be set on April 22 to reduce polluting emissions. “Biden has a great opportunity. It’s about rethinking the development model. What really creates a crisis is that capitalist model of development that has overwhelmed nature, that has tempered it. (This) represents a leadership opportunity for Biden to re-position his country on the global agenda, ”said Dionne Cruz, political scientist and professor at Javeriana University.
However, all these efforts and shifts in domestic politics would be of no use if there is no international cooperation and all countries are making efforts to reduce pollution, especially with China, the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. “If there is one thing that has made tribes and nations work together very effectively throughout history, it was the perception of a common enemy. Climate change is the common enemy of the 21st century for the United States and China, Aseveró Corrêa d’Almeida.
Arevalo, for his part, acknowledges that Biden arrives with a more conciliatory position in the dialogue with China. “Climate change will be relevant to them (China) because they will be affected, especially by rising sea levels. But the environment is not the first item on his agenda, ”he said.
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However, it will not be easy for Washington. China has been cautious in recent days about cooperating with the Biden government. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said both countries have plenty of scope for cooperation in areas such as climate change. But he added that the US must first be careful not to harm China’s interests.
The truth is, there is a clear goal in the new US administration, and it already recognizes that time is running out to reverse the effects of climate change. “We still have nine years to make decisions to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. We are entering a critical decade for action,” Kerry said at the Davos Economic Forum.
CARLOS JOSÉ REYES *
International writing
* With information from agencies