WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden in an effort to stave off the worst effects of climate change, has aimed to cut oil, gas and coal emissions and double energy production from offshore wind turbines through executive orders.
The orders awaiting his signature target federal subsidies for oil and other fossil fuels and halt new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters. They also intend to conserve 30 per cent of the country’s lands and ocean waters in the next 10 years and move to an all-electric federal vehicle fleet.
Biden has set a goal of eliminating pollution from fossil fuel in the power sector by 2035 and from the US economy overall by 2050, speeding what is already a market-driven growth of solar and wind energy and lessening the country’s dependence on oil and gas.
The ambitious plan is aimed at slowing human-caused global warming that is magnifying extreme weather events such as deadly wildfires in the West and drenching rains and hurricanes in the East. But the rapid pace of change needed to stave off global warming also carries political risk for the president and Democrats overall.
In a change from previous administrations of both parties, Biden also is directing agencies to focus help and investment on the low-income and minority communities that live closest to polluting refineries and other hazards, and the oil- and coal-patch towns that face job losses as the US moves to sharply increase its reliance on wind, solar and other other energy sources that do not emit climate-warming greenhouse gases.
The actions make clear that “both significant short-term global emission reductions and net-zero global emissions by mid-century – or before – are required to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory,” the White House said in a statement before Biden signed the orders.
The orders are aimed at “revitalizing the US energy sector, conserving our natural resources and leveraging them to help drive our nation toward a clean energy future,″ the White House said, while “creating well-paying jobs … and delivering justice for communities who have been subjected to environmental harm.″
Biden also is elevating climate change to a national security priority. The conservation plan would set aside millions of acres for recreation, wildlife and climate efforts by 2030 as part of Biden’s campaign pledge for a $2 trillion program to slow global warming.
Read more: European Parliament takes notice of EU DisinfoLab report exposing Indian propaganda
