THE WHITE HOUSE
National Climate Task Force
“THIS IS A CASE WHERE CONSCIENCE AND CONVENIENCE CROSS PATHS, WHERE DEALING WITH THIS EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO THE PLANET AND INCREASING OUR ECONOMIC GROWTH AND PROSPERITY ARE ONE AND THE SAME. WHEN I THINK OF CLIMATE CHANGE … I THINK OF JOBS.”
- President Joe Biden Before Signing Executive Actions on Tackling Climate Change, Creating Jobs, and Restoring Scientific Integrity (Jan. 27, 2021)
President Biden’s Actions to Tackle the Climate Crisis
President Biden campaigned on a bold vision of tackling the climate crisis with the urgency that science demands, by building a clean energy economy that benefits all Americans — with lower costs for families, good-paying jobs for workers, and healthier air and cleaner water for communities.
Since Day One, President Biden has delivered.
After rejoining the Paris Agreement and restoring U.S. leadership on the world stage, President Biden created the first-ever National Climate Task Force, with more than 25 Cabinet-level leaders from across agencies working together on groundbreaking goals:
* Reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 50-52% below 2005 levels in 2030
* Reaching 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035
* Achieving a net-zero emissions economy by 2050
* Delivering 40% of the benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities
The Biden-Harris Administration is taking decisive steps to reduce emissions, increase resilience, advance environmental justice, and achieve true energy security.
This federal mobilization, building on the leadership of states, Tribal Nations, and local governments, has already spurred historic progress:
* The United States set records for clean energy deployment in 2021, bringing enough new solar and wind projects online to power 10 million homes and tripling utility-scale battery storage capacity.
* Since President Biden took office, the two-millionth electric vehicle hit the road, companies announced investments of over $100 billion dollars in American EV manufacturing, and the rate of public EV charger installation nearly doubled.
* Major climate “firsts” included the Administration’s approval of the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in federal waters, the first commercial flight powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel flying from Chicago to DC, and U.S. steel and cement companies committing for the first time to reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050.
* Clean energy is by far the biggest job creator in America’s energy sector, with over 3 million Americans employed in clean energy jobs during 2021 earning wages 25% over the national median.
On the international stage, President Biden worked with E.U. counterparts to rally more than 100 countries to join the Global Methane Pledge, a new partnership to reduce super-polluting methane emissions 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.
President Biden and Vice President Harris also made tackling climate change, advancing environmental justice, and creating jobs centerpieces of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Passed in August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act is the most significant legislation in U.S. history to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen American energy security.
It will lower energy costs for households, saving families hundreds of dollars per year on energy bills; create millions of good-paying jobs for American workers through manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles; and deliver a healthy future for our children and grandchildren by cutting pollution and advancing environmental justice.
The savings, jobs, and other benefits provided by this legislation will reach communities across the country.
Additionally, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides historic resources for upgrading the power grid, improving public transit and investing in zero-emission transit and school buses, installing a nationwide EV charging network, cleaning up legacy pollution, replacing lead pipes and delivering clean water.
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will also strengthen the nation’s resilience and save taxpayer money, helping communities safeguard against extreme weather events, catastrophic wildfires, and other climate-related disasters — which last year caused more than $150 billion in damages from the biggest 20 weather and climate disasters alone.
This is the decisive decade for the world to confront climate change and avoid the worst, irreversible impacts of this crisis.
That’s why the President has called on Congress to act on climate by providing clean energy investments and tax credits that will bring down the sticker prices of EVs, weatherize homes and businesses to cut energy costs, and save American families an average of $500 a year.
President Biden will continue leading to meet this moment and deliver economic opportunities, health benefits, and household savings here at home — by accelerating our transition to clean energy, and protecting Americans from fossil fuel price spikes.
President Biden’s Leadership in Action
Through executive and regulatory actions, public-private partnerships, international diplomacy, and more, President Biden is working towards achieving his bold goals while taking steps to grow the economy, create jobs, and build a clean energy future – all while rallying the world to step up too.
Reducing Emissions and Accelerating Clean Energy
President Biden and Vice President Harris have mobilized a whole-of-government effort in every sector of the economy – taking executive actions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate clean energy production and deployment, and create good-paying jobs that strengthen the economy.
In addition to the actions below, the Administration is leading by example across federal operations and procurement through the President’s Federal Sustainability Plan.
Advancing Environmental Justice and Empowering Workers
President Biden and Vice President Harris have worked since Day One to confront environmental injustices, toxic pollution, underinvestment in infrastructure and critical services, and disproportionate impacts from climate change on communities across the nation.
The Administration has activated the entire federal government to advance environmental justice and for the first time in our nation’s history, elevate the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of environmental justice communities to guide White House and Federal Government priorities, policies, investments, and decision-making.
The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to continually fighting for environmental justice through early, meaningful, and sustained partnership with communities and dedicated leadership in Federal agencies.
Strengthening Climate Resilience
Four in ten Americans live in a county that was impacted by a climate disaster last year.
As climate-related extreme weather events increase in frequency and ferocity, the U.S. is taking bold steps to strengthen the nation’s resilience to severe impacts climate change has on our communities, infrastructure, economies, and more.
Leveraging Domestic Ambition to Rally Global Peers
While the U.S. has committed itself to addressing the climate crisis, countries across the globe must also step up given that more than 85% of global climate pollution comes from beyond our borders.
President Biden and his team are rallying the world to take the decisive action needed in this decade to tackle the climate crisis.
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