Biden’s plan on Climate Change will

BIDEN’S PLAN ON CLIMATE CHANGE WILL LIKELY FACE CHALLENGES IN THE EVENLY DIVIDED SENATE

Regardless of the controversy surrounding its status, climate change remains one of the most pressing emergencies the globe faces today. With the planet growing warmer and sea levels rising, scientists have already espoused that the rate at which the change is taking place might lead to irreversible harm. Thus,

President Joe Biden has stated in strong terms: “It’s about coming to the moment to deal with this maximum threat that we — that’s now facing us — climate change — with a greater sense of urgency”.

He went on to say that the

United States had already waited too long to deal with the crisis. “We see it with our own eyes, we feel it, we know it in our bones, and it’s time to act.”, he said in

January.

Climate action has been one of the foremost policy plans of the Biden-led administration - and had been a key campaign promise. Indeed, the 46th President had already passed several executive orders in January, few weeks after he was sworn into office. Through them, he reversed some environmental policies of the Trump administration, which had curtailed the reforms President Obama had made to beat climate change. Among these was reinstituting the country’s status as a party to the Paris Climate Accord, from which former President Trump had withdrawn.

The core of Biden’s climate plan, as stated during his campaign, is a sweeping renewable energy transition from fossil fuels, which would also mean economic prosperity and job creation. Thus, his executive orders have aimed to end new

leases for oil and gas on public lands and increase the renewable energy produced offshore by double in 2030. According to his officials, climate change will be prioritized in foreign policy and national security under his plan.

Nonetheless - as ambitious as his plans to beat climate change maybe - he needs legislation from Congress to ensure that his actions are not rolled back by a future administration. Thus, he has sought permanent legislation providing for aspects of the $2 trillion proposal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

However, the current outlook of the Senate may present a significant challenge to President Biden’s plans. Experts have opined that Congress is needed to appropriate the infrastructure budget. Their cooperation is also required to strengthen regulation curtailing the production of fossil fuels. But with an evenly divided senate having Vice President Harris as the tiebreaker, this might not be achieved. The President would need ten more votes from Republican senators - who traditionally oppose such reforms - to pass any climate bills.

As if that was not enough as an obstacle, some moderate Senate Democrats from states which have the fossil fuel industry as a backbone of their economies might stand in the way as well. A prime example is Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is the incoming chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. One cannot easily forget his campaign ad a decade ago where he was shown gunning down the thenPresident Obama’s climate bill. Since then, he has taken pride in breaking with his party on coal production issues, and in his new position, he wields much influence on what the Senate will pass.

History does not offer much hope for a Congress’s support for Biden’s plans either, as Democrats had unsuccessfully tried to pass climate legislation even when they had tighter control of Congress under the Obama administration.

Conclusion

As some have declared, getting climate laws passed would show the nature of President Biden’s commitment to climate action. While the evenly divided Senate may be a bottleneck to achieving this goal, the President could seek other means to either get Republican and moderate Democrats on board or bypass them altogether.