Biden should be held accountable for his failures on climate action

As Earth Day comes around again and climate projections become evermore dismal, Democratic climate promises will be plastered all over the media. After all, President Joe Biden proudly stated on the campaign trail there would be “no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period.” His track record since that bold statement however has largely failed to meet such lofty goals.

For most of his time as president, Biden has been lauded for his action on climate change, and for good reason. He has made significant changes that should be recognized, but we should also talk about his failures, especially as the 2024 cycle begins heating up.

What did Biden actually promise to the American people and, beyond the need to address climate catastrophe, why did he promise it?

The Democratic primaries largely became a competition of who could be the most progressive, a competition which pitted moderate Democrats against Sen. Bernie Sanders. Biden was widely touted as the most qualified moderate option for Democrats, making him more appealing to older voters but unpopular among younger, more progressive voters.

All this to say, it seems Biden was not initially dedicated to strong action on climate change. If Biden were to win the Democratic primary while still claiming the title of moderate, he would have to be strong in less controversial areas.

Enter climate change.

Younger voters care a lot about climate change. Data from Gallup polls in 2018 and Pew Research Center in 2021 corroborate this. However, a Times/Siena poll conducted in 2022 showed climate change is of far less concern for most registered voters.

Climate change is the perfect issue to aggrandize on, thus currying young voters’ favor without repelling the general public.

When the Democratic field inevitably crumbled to Sanders and Biden, it’s not surprising that Biden promised what he did. After all, according to the polls, if Biden ended up failing to meet those promises, there would be little political cost from the general electorate.

It’s no surprise then that fossil fuel industries have been able to function largely unharmed through lobbied loopholes in climate legislation under Biden’s watch.

No doubt the latest instance of broken promises is Biden’s approval of the Willow Project in Alaska, a plan which will expand oil drilling in one of the United States’ most unique environments. But, this is just one of many concessions Biden has made since his inauguration.

In passing the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden made sure to flaunt its climate-positive qualities. While it does take monumental and important steps toward a greener future, it has concerning concessions which could make or break whether Biden’s action will truly stop climate catastrophe in the coming decades.

As a result of stalled negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin, Biden made two significant changes to his originally expansive climate plan.

Firstly, the Inflation Reduction Act provides tax credits to implement carbon capture and storage technologies at fossil fuel facilities.

However, companies can wait to break ground on implementation as late as 2032 to qualify for the tax credit. The problem with such subsidies is that carbon capture is not foreseeably feasible to negate fossil fuel’s carbon footprint and allows for their continued production and expansion for the next decade.

Secondly, the plan allows for the leasing and auctioning of millions of acres of federal lands for oil and natural gas drilling, especially in the Gulf of Mexico. It is inexplicable that drilling is actively expanding in an area known for its oil spills.

Why develop and spend all of this money making green technologies if you’re going to continue to expand climate-hostile energy production? We are running out of time and these concessions kick the can of green transition too far down the road.

Recent toxic train derailments in East Palestine, Ohio and Sandstone, West Virginia have raised further questions about Biden’s attempts to protect the environment through strict transportation regulations.

Train derailments, reported and unreported, have been in part the result of loosened requirements on train transportation under the Trump administration. Specifically, Trump’s reversal of regulations under the Obama administration removed laws meant to reduce train derailments.

If Trump repealed rules made under the Obama administration, it would only be logical for Biden to reinstate them if he wanted to crack down on polluters. But, for some reason, this never happened and the standard of hands-off regulation of train safety continued.

Biden has played young voters. He’s broken his promise to leave no room for the fossil fuel industry. He has allowed the fractional conservative voices of his party to undermine the climate action he has pushed for. If he wants at all similar young voter turnout in 2024, he must step up his climate policy.

Pickin’s: Ube