Biden Administration Prioritizes Environmental Policy in New Executive Orders

By Samantha Swank

This past week, President Joe Biden signed several executive orders relating to environmental policy, including one that reinstated the United States into the Paris Climate Agreement—an international pact of almost 200 countries to commit to emissions reductions, named after the location in which the negotiations were finalized, that went into full effect in late 2016. 

Former president Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in the summer of 2017, only a year and a half after the previous Obama administration entered the country into the agreement in December of 2015. The withdrawal, however, wasn’t finalized until this past November, thanks to a rule barring withdrawal within the first three years of the accord and another requiring 12 months notice. 

The United States accounts for a third of excess emissions despite containing less than five percent of the global population, which places particular emphasis on its government to lead the path to a viable and more sustainable way of living. 

Despite claims to otherwise, there exists no question as to whether or not human activities have harmfully accelerated climate change. Each of the past several years have breached records for being the hottest since record-keeping began—2020 was the most recent year to reach the top ranks, even with global lockdowns.

Loss of land that will occur due to rising sea-levels is predicted to displace nearly 150 million people in geographically vulnerable areas by the year 2050, leading to a dramatic increase in the number of refugees seeking shelter from the environmental devastation of their homelands. Such loss of land will also negatively impact pre existing housing shortages and the supply of resources and food worldwide.

Beyond re-entry into the Paris agreement, President Biden has also revoked permission to expand the Keystone XL Pipeline, of which former president Trump permitted continued construction after it was barred by the Obama administration. The pipeline, along with others, spurred a lawsuit a few years ago due to its extraordinarily rapid approval, lack of environmental oversight, worries of oil spills contaminating crucial water supplies, and concerns related to the placement of the pipeline upon protected land significant to the Sioux and other tribes. Native American communities have long borne a disproportionate burden of the harms caused by hostile land and environmental policies. 

President Biden also ordered the reinstatement of several environmental and health protections that had been repealed or altered by the Trump administration.

Though not enough on their own to steer us away from the worst that our environmentally unfriendly habits have to offer, re-entry into the pact alongside other catch-up measures affirms the stance that the Biden administration has asserted regarding climate and environmental reform, and shows promise for substantial, lasting change.