NARSEE MONJEE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

SOCIOLOGY PROJECT

SUBMITTED BY,
PRASHUK JAIN,
2nd YEAR STUDENT,
BALLB (HONS),
81011219032.

SUBMITTED TO
ARUNODAY MAJUMDER,
PERMANENT FACULTY,
SOL, NMIMS BANGALORE.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT 3

RESEARCH DESIGN 4
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: 4
PROBLEM STATEMENT 4

1
 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES 4
RESEARCH METHADOLOGY: 4

LITERATURE REVIEW 5

CHAPTER 1: Introduction To Climate Change 6

CHAPTER 2: Trump policies on climate Change 8
CHAPTER 3: Joe Biden policies on climate Change 15
CHAPTER 4: USA ELECTIONS AND CLIMATE CHANGE 19
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 22

ABSTRACT

After four years of environmental policy rollbacks, support for fossil fuels and retreat from
the international community under Donald Trump, many now hope the president-elect and
vice president-elect Kamala Harris will encourage the US to be a climate leader. This
research paper analyses the causes and effects of climate change. This research paper will
further discuss the ways how Donald trump accelerated the process of climate change and
how his term destroyed the Environment. This paper will present the future plans of Biden

2
Administration to control the climate change and steps he can take to reverse trump policies
which were endangering the environment.

RESEARCH DESIGN

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:

The research for this paper is carried out to fulfil the following objectives and end with a
conclusive study for the same:

● To find out the causes and effects of climate change

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 ● To critically analyse the effect on climate change by the policies of Donald trump
● To analyse the future plan of Joe Biden on climate change and how effective it is.
● To compare the policies of Trump and Biden and what Biden can do to reverse the
damage caused by Trump administration.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Donald trump administration didn’t believe in climate change which resulted in many
policies and decisions which lead to the destruction of environment. This paper analyses the
question how Donald Trump has accelerated the climate change and what Joe Biden win
means for the climate change?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

This paper is designed to assess the hypothesis that climate change is a real danger to the
world and that Donald Trump policies were accelerating the climate change and how the
election of Joe Biden can be a good thing for the environment.

RESEARCH METHADOLOGY

The method used in research study is doctrinal type which involves descriptive and analytical
study. The research studied by using secondary sources of information and data such as
articles journals and books related to the climate change and policies of trump and Biden on
climate change, which were analysed and precisely to give a clear result and solutions for the
research.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Name of the Article: what is climate change?

Author: Josh Gabbattis

This paper discuss about climate change and this article was very important in my research as
it helped me to understand the definition of climate change and how it effects our planet. This

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article gives a brief on the causes of climate change. This article helped me a lot to
understand the climate change which was crucial part of my research.

Name of the Article: A second Trump term would be 'game over' for the climate

Author: Marks Hettgard

This article discusses how trump polices have affected the climate and how one more term of
trump would be so disastrous for climate change that it would have destroyed climate without
repair. This article helped me a lot in my research as it gave a very brief on Trump climate
policies.

Name of the Article: The environment is in trouble. Here’s what Biden can do to address it
Author: Laura parker

This article answers two crucial question what environmental progress can a Biden
presidency actually achieve and as the pandemic and stalled economy command immediate
attention, will Biden even be able to restore Obama-era environmental policies.

Name of the Article: How a Biden Administration Could Reverse Trump’s Climate Legacy

Author: Jean Chenmick

This article talks about the step which Biden can take to reverse Donald’s trump policies on
climate Trump administration spent three and a half years demolishing its predecessor’s
Climate Action Plan, Biden’s team would have to update rules for carbon, methane and
hydrofluorocarbons. This article further discusses the problems Biden will face while
reversing Donald trump policies 

Introduction

What is climate change?

The biggest topic of our time is climate change and we are at a defining moment. The impacts
of climate change are global in nature and unparalleled in scale, from changing weather
patterns that threaten food production to increasing sea levels that raise the risk of

5
catastrophic flooding. Adapting to these impacts in the future would be more complicated and
expensive without drastic action now.

The NASA concept of climate change states that it is a wide range of global phenomena
created mainly by the burning of fossil fuels that add heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere of
the Earth." These phenomena include the increased trends in temperature defined by global
warming, but also include changes such as sea-level rise; loss of ice mass worldwide in
Greenland, Antarctica, the Arctic and mountain glaciers; changes in flower/plant blooming;
and extreme weather events.

Causes of climate change

The mechanics of the earth’s climate system are simple. When energy from the sun is
reflected off the earth and back into space or when the earth’s atmosphere releases energy,
the planet cools. The planet warms by greenhouse effect. Greenhouse effect is when the earth
absorbs the sun’s energy or when atmospheric gases prevent heat released by the earth from
radiating into space. A variety of factors, both natural and human, can influence the earth’s
climate system.

Natural causes of climate change

As we all know, in the past, the world went through hot and cold periods, and long before
humans were around. Forces that contribute to climate change include the intensity of the
sun, volcanic eruptions and increases in greenhouse gas concentrations that occur naturally.
But records show that today's climate warming has occurred much faster than ever since the
mid-20th century particularly warming and cannot be explained by natural causes alone.
According to NASA1, "These natural causes are still in play today but their effect is too small
or they happen too slowly to explain the rapid warming seen in recent decades."

Man Made causes

1
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming

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More precisely, humans are the main cause of the earth's rapidly changing atmosphere
because of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions we produce. In keeping the earth warm
enough to be populated, greenhouse gases play a significant role. But in recent decades, the
quantity of these gases in our atmosphere has skyrocketed. Concentrations of carbon dioxide,
methane, and nitrous oxides have risen to unprecedented levels in at least the last 800,000
years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The share of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the biggest contributor to climate change on the earth, has
increased by 40 percent since pre-industrial times. The primary source of human-generated
pollution is the burning of fossil fuels including coal, oil and gas for power, food and
transportation. Deforestation, which releases sequestrated carbon into the air, is a second
major cause. Logging, clear-cutting, fires, and other forms of forest destruction are expected
to lead to up to 20% of global carbon emissions. Fertilizer use a primary source of nitrous
oxide emissions), livestock production (cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats are major methane
emitters), and some manufacturing processes that release fluorinated gases are other human
activities that produce air pollution. The reflectivity of the earth's surface can be affected by
activities such as agriculture and road building, contributing to local warming or cooling, too.

Effects of climate change

The failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change will be the most impactful risk facing
societies worldwide in the coming decade, even ahead of weapons of mass destruction and
water crises, according to the World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Risks Report2. Climate

2
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GRR/WEF_GRR16.pdf

7
change impacts everything from the places we live to the water we drink to the air we
breathe.

Extreme weather

As the earth’s atmosphere heats up, it collects, retains, and drops more water, changing
weather patterns and making wet areas wetter and dry areas drier. Higher temperatures
worsen and increase the frequency of many types of disasters, including storms, floods, heat
waves, and droughts. These events can have devastating and costly consequences,
jeopardizing access to clean drinking water, fuelling out-of-control wildfires, damaging
property, creating hazardous-material spills, polluting the air, and leading to loss of life.

Dirty air

Air pollution and climate change, with one exacerbating the other, are inextricably related.
Not only does our environment get dirtier with smog and soot levels increasing as the
temperatures of the planet increase, but there are also more allergenic air contaminants such
as circulating mould and pollen.

Rising seas

The Arctic is heating twice as fast as any other place on the planet. As its ice sheets melt into
the seas, our oceans are on track to rise one to four feet higher by 2100, threatening coastal
ecosystems and low-lying areas. Island nations face particular risk, as do some of the world’s
largest cities, including New York, Miami, Mumbai, and Sydney.

Trump policies on Climate Change

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A 2018 analysis reported that3 the Trump administration's rollbacks and proposed reversals of
environmental rules would likely "cost the lives of over 80,000 US residents per decade and
lead to respiratory problems for many more than 1 million people."

The environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration represents a shift from the
policy priorities and goals of the preceding Barack Obama administration. Where President
Obama's environmental agenda prioritized the reduction of carbon emissions through the use
of renewable energy with the goal of conserving the environment for future generations, the
Trump administration policy was for the US to attain energy independence based on fossil
fuel use and to rescind many environmental regulations. As of May 2020, the Trump
administration has rolled back 64 environmental rules and regulations, and an additional 34
rollbacks are in progress.4Environmentalists were concerned that a successful re-election of
Trump in 2020 could have resulted in severe and irreversible changes in the climate.

The Trump administration supports energy development on federal land, including gas and
oil drilling in national parks. Soon after taking office, Trump began to implement his
"America First Energy Plan" and signed executive orders to approve two controversial oil
pipelines. In 2018, the Department of the Interior announced plans to allow drilling in nearly
all U.S. waters, the largest expansion of offshore oil and gas leasing ever proposed. In 2019,
the Administration completed plans for opening the entire coastal plain of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

Trump and his cabinet appointees do not believe the consensus of most scientists that climate
change will have catastrophic impacts nor that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to
climate change. Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord, leaving the
U.S. the only nation that is not part of the agreement. He avoided environmental discussions
at both the 44th G7 summit held in Canada and the 45th G7 summit held in France by
departing early from these conferences. In September 2019, the Trump administration
replaced the Obama-era Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy rule, which
does not cap emissions. In April 2020, he issued his new vehicle emissions standards, which
are projected to result in an additional billion tons of carbon dioxide, increasing annual U.S.
emissions by about one-fifth. The administration rewrote the EPA's pollution-control policies

3
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html
4
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html,
%20https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html

9
including on chemicals known to be serious health risks particularly benefiting the chemicals
industry, and repealed the Clean Water Rule in September 2019.

Ways in which trump administration affected the climate

Disregarded Scientific Data About the Risks of Climate Change

The Trump Administration has consistently sought to weaken the role of scientific evidence
in environmental rulemaking. In a series of moves, the EPA ordered the dissolution of
advisory boards that offer external, apolitical science-based guidance and barred scientists
who receive EPA grant funding from serving on the boards, thus opening the door for greater
influence by business interests. The effects of this scientific side-lining were acutely felt in
2019 when an EPA panel to review soot standards did not include an epidemiologist to
evaluate public health impacts.

The administration's efforts to diminish scientific data and input from scientists are
unprecedented and too numerous to list. Some additional moves include blocking a State
Department scientist's Congressional testimony on the threats climate change poses to
national security, and inserting climate denial language into scientific reports.

Dismantled the Clean Power Plan

The Clean Power Plan, a policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, was
quickly put on the chopping block when Trump entered the White House. The EPA
effectively repealed the policy and put forth a replacement policy in 2018 5, which according
to the agency's own analysis could result in 1,400 additional premature deaths from air
pollution and $30 billion in health damages per year compared to the original Clean Power
Plan, with the direst impacts felt in the Midwest.

5
https://academic.oup.com/publius/article/48/3/345/4980813

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These actions are more confounding when considering that falling costs of energy from wind
and solar make it cost-effective to close three-quarters of the country's remaining coal plants
and replace them with new renewable power. To defend this rollback, the Trump
Administration downplayed its adverse economic impact by using flawed analysis in
assessing the damage climate change would cause in the United States. The EPA eschewed
mainstream economics in estimating the benefits of avoiding human-caused climate change.
Whereas the original assessment accounted for the social cost of carbon (the estimate of
damage caused by each ton of carbon dioxide emissions) by considering global damages, the
Trump administration EPA adopted a narrow domestic lens, not taking into account
transboundary impacts. Moreover, it used higher discount rates (the tool by which economists
determine the value of future costs or benefits, relative to the present value) to undervalue the
cost to future generations.

Blocked Rule to Phase Out Inefficient Lightbulbs

The U.S. Department of Energy recently rolled back a policy that requires new lightbulbs to
meet stringent energy-efficiency standards, originally established by the Bush Administration
in 2007. Since then the cost of the most efficient lighting, LEDs, has fallen by roughly 90%.
The rollback is expected to cost the average household $100 per year in higher electricity
bills. In total, families and businesses are projected to spend an extra $12 billion dollars a
year under the proposal. The rollback will also increase carbon emissions by 34 million
metric tons per year by 2025, equivalent to the annual emissions of 7 million cars.

Refuses to Support Bipartisan Legislation to Curb Super Pollutants from Air

Conditioners and Refrigerators

Super pollutants, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are potent heat-trapping gases common
in air conditioners and refrigerators. HFCs have extremely high potential to accelerate
climate change — some trap thousands of times more heat than an equivalent amount of
carbon dioxide. The global Kigali Amendment requires countries to phase down the
production and usage of the most potent HFCs, potentially preventing 0.5 degrees C of
warming (0.9 degrees F) by the end of the century. The bipartisan American Innovation and

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Manufacturing (AIM) Act, currently being considered in the Senate, would put the United
States on a phasedown schedule in line with the global agreement.

After successful negotiation among 197 countries and ratification by 81, the Kigali
Amendment went into effect in 2019. However, the Trump Administration continues to
oppose the domestic legislation to implement this phasedown. By missing this opportunity,
the United States could lose out on 30,000 new jobs and billions of dollars' worth of exports
over the next few years alone. The AIM Act has bipartisan backing on Capitol Hill and is
strongly endorsed by the business community, including corporate trade associations such as
the Chamber of Commerce; the National Association of Manufacturers; and the Air
Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute.

Rolled Back Rules Limiting Methane Pollution from Oil and Gas Infrastructure

In 2019, the Trump EPA proposed to eliminate existing standards requiring oil and gas
companies to monitor and repair leaks of methane — another super pollutant — from both
new and existing equipment. The Environmental Defense Fund estimates this rollback will
lead to an additional 5 million metric tons of methane emissions per year, as well as
significantly increase emissions of hazardous volatile organic compounds and cancer-causing
benzene. By rolling back the rule, the Trump Administration not only imperils the climate but
also the 9.3 million Americans who live within a half-mile of the older oil and gas wells that
would no longer be regulated. If anything, the wells should have more oversight, as a recent
study found that methane leaks from oil and gas fields may be 60% higher than the EPA's
estimations.

Loosened Emissions Standards for Cars and Trucks

In March 20206, the Trump Administration significantly weakened the 2012 rule requiring
automakers to produce more fuel-efficient and less polluting vehicles. As a result, families
and businesses across the country are expected to pay an extra $231 billion at the pump

6
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/climate/trump-fuel-economy.html

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between 2021 and 2035. The rollback will also eliminate 13,500 jobs, according to the
administration. Meanwhile, cumulative greenhouse gas emissions over this timeframe would
increase by 654 million metric tons, equivalent to adding another 140 million cars to the road
for one year.

The Trump Administration has also taken steps to prevent states from filling the growing
regulatory void created by these rollbacks, revoking the waiver that enabled California and
other states to voluntarily set higher efficiency standards for passenger vehicles. Altogether
the revocation impacts 14 states, which comprise more than one-third of the U.S. auto
market.

Paris Agreement

On June 1, 2017, Trump announced United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement,
causing the U.S. to become the third out of 197 nations worldwide to not sign the agreement.
As of 2018 the remaining two nations signed and the U.S. is the only nation that has not
ratified the Paris Agreement. Since the terms of the agreement prohibit any country from
withdrawing during the first three years, the Trump decision to withdraw will not be finalized
until November 2019 and then it will not become official for another year after that, the day
after the 2020 presidential election.

Prior to withdrawal, the U.S. had pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28%
below 2005 levels by 2025 and assign $3 million in aid to foreign countries combating
climate change. The withdrawal was supported by several Republican lawmakers who felt
that backing out was in-line with Trump's "America First" policy and goals to diverge from
the environmental policies of the Obama administration. The announcement has been
criticized by many national and international leaders, domestic politicians, business leaders
and academics, as well as a large majority of American citizens.

Trump opposed the agreement on the grounds that it would compromise U.S. sovereignty and
cause many Americans to lose their jobs. Proponents of the agreement argue, however, that
backing out will result in a loss for our economy as new green jobs are offered instead to

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competitors overseas. Trump also announced his attempts to reach a negotiation with leaders
involved in the agreement, who responded saying that the accord was "non-negotiable."

The process of withdrawal is expected to take several years, and in the meantime, there has
been a vocal resistance on the state and local levels. Hawaii became the first state to
independently commit to the goals initially lined out by the accord. Shortly after Trump's
announcement, state governments in California, New York, and Washington founded the
United States Climate Alliance to continue advancing the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
The sentiment has also been expressed by other state governors, by mayors and businesses,
and the alliance now has 10 states with governors of both the Democratic and Republican
parties pledging to abide by the agreement.

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Joe Biden policies on Climate Change

Unlike Donald Trump, Joe Biden believes there is no greater challenge facing our country
and our world. That’s why he outlined a very bold plan “A Clean Energy Revolution” 7 to
address this grave threat and lead the world in addressing the climate emergency.

the Green New Deal according to Biden will be a crucial framework for meeting the climate
challenges. It powerfully captures two basic truths that are the United States urgently needs to
embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge and our
environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.

GOALS OF BIDEN PLAN

Joe Biden wants the U.S. to achieve a 100% clean energy economy and reaches net-zero
emissions no later than 2050. Biden wants to enacts legislation in the first year of his
presidency that meets the following demands:

1) establishes an enforcement mechanism that includes milestone targets no later than the end
of his first term in 2025

2) makes a historic investment in clean energy and climate research and innovation

3) incentivizes the rapid deployment of clean energy innovations across the economy,
especially in communities most impacted by climate change.

Biden policies will make smart infrastructure investments to rebuild the nation and to ensure
that buildings, water, transportation, and energy infrastructure can withstand the impacts of
climate change. Every dollar spent toward rebuilding roads, bridges, buildings, the electric
grid, and water infrastructure will be used to prevent, reduce, and withstand a changing
climate. As President, Biden will use the convening power of government to boost climate
resilience efforts by developing regional climate resilience plans, in partnership with local
universities and national labs, for local access to the most relevant science, data, information,

7
https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/

15
tools, and training. The various plans of Biden to counter climate change are mentioned
below: -

Rally the rest of the world to meet the threat of climate change. Climate change is a
global challenge that requires decisive action from every country around the world. Joe Biden
knows how to stand with America’s allies, stand up to adversaries, and level with any world
leader about what must be done. He will lead an effort to get every major country to ramp up
the ambition of their domestic climate targets. He will make sure those commitments are
transparent and enforceable, and stop countries from cheating by using America’s economic
leverage and power of example. He will fully integrate climate change into our foreign policy
and national security strategies, as well as our approach to trade.

Stand up to the abuse of power by polluters Vulnerable communities are

disproportionately impacted by the climate emergency and pollution. The Biden
Administration will take action against fossil fuel companies and other polluters who put
profit over people and knowingly harm our environment and poison our communities’ air,
land, and water, or conceal information regarding potential environmental and health risks.
The Biden plan will ensure that communities across the country from Flint, Michigan to
Harlan, Kentucky to the New Hampshire Seacoast have access to clean, safe drinking water.

Joe Biden plan on reversing Climate Change

Biden will make the largest-ever investment in clean energy research and innovation. After
World War II, public investment in research and collaboration between universities and the
private sector spurred American innovation, led to rapid economic and job growth, and
helped build a strong middle class. The Biden plan will double down on this approach to
create the industries of the future by investing $400 billion over ten years. Biden
administration is planning to take the following steps: -

ARPA-C: Biden administration is planning to bring together America’s top talent to innovate
on climate. Biden administration will establish ARPA-C, a new, cross-agency Advanced

16
Research Projects Agency focused on climate. This initiative will target affordable, game-
changing technologies to help America achieve our 100% clean energy target

Target airline emissions: Aviation accounts for nearly 2% of global greenhouse gas
emissions, and that portion is expected to increase. Unfortunately, today few low-carbon
technologies or fuels have been developed to tackle this challenge. Biden recognizes that
must change and will pursue measures to incentivize the creation of new, sustainable fuels for
aircraft, as well as other changes to aircraft technology and standards, and air traffic
management.

Accelerate the development of carbon capture sequestration technology: According to

the Blue Green Alliance, “carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) is a rapidly growing
technology that has the potential to create economic benefits for multiple industries while
significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions.” Biden shares the Carbon Capture
Coalition’s goal “to make CCUS a widely available, cost-effective, and rapidly scalable
solution to reduce carbon emissions to meet mid-century climate goals.” Toward this end, he
will double down on federal investments and enhance tax incentives for CCUS. At the same
time, to bring new carbon capture technologies to market, Biden will continue to fund carbon
capture research, development, and demonstration.

Identify the future of nuclear energy. To address the climate emergency threatening
communities, economy, and national security it is important to look at all low- and zero-
carbon technologies. That’s why Biden will support a research agenda through ARPA-C to
look at issues, ranging from cost to safety to waste disposal systems, that remain an ongoing
challenge with nuclear power today.

Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings. Building on his efforts in the Recovery
Act, Biden will set a target of reducing the carbon footprint of the U.S. building stock 50% by
2035, creating incentives for deep retrofits that combine appliance electrification, efficiency,
and on-site clean power generation. He will work to identify barriers to help offset the

17
upfront cost of building upgrades and put in place a national program to target a package of
affordable energy efficiency retrofits in American homes. He will direct the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development to make housing for low-income communities more
efficient. He will direct the U.S. Department of Energy to redouble efforts to accelerate new
efficiency standards for household appliances and equipment. And, he will repair and
accelerate the building code process and create a new funding mechanism for states and cities
to adopt strict building codes and train builders and inspectors.

Accelerating the deployment of electric vehicles. There are now one million electric
vehicles on the road in the United States. But a key barrier to further deployment of these
greenhouse-gas reducing vehicles is the lack of charging stations and coordination across all
levels of government. As President, Biden will work with our nation’s governors and mayors
to support the deployment of more than 500,000 new public charging outlets by the end of
2030. In addition, Biden will restore the full electric vehicle tax credit to incentivize the
purchase of these vehicles. He will ensure the tax credit is designed to targeted middle class
consumers and, to the greatest extent possible, to prioritize the purchase of vehicles made in
America. And, he will work to develop a new fuel economy standard that goes beyond what
the Obama-Biden Administration put in place.

Empowering local communities to develop transportation solutions: Communities across

the country are experiencing a growing need for alternative and cleaner transportation
options, including transit, dedicated bicycle and pedestrian thoroughfares, and first- and last-
mile connections. The Biden Administration will transform the way we fund local
transportation, giving state and local governments, with input from community stakeholders,
more flexibility to use any new transportation funds to build safer, cleaner, and more
accessible transportation ecosystem.

US Elections and Climate Change

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What does Joe Biden's win mean for the climate change?

Michael Mann, one of the world's top climate scientists, claims it would be "essentially
impossible" to avert climate disaster on a global scale if Donald Trump was re-elected. 8 In the
2020 US election, President-elect Joe Biden beat out Donald Trump. The results came down
to a number of battleground states, with Biden winning crucial wins to become the 46th US
President. Scientists were worried that another four years of Trump would "lock in" the use
of fossil fuels for decades to come securing and enhancing the infrastructure for oil and gas
production rather than phasing them out as environmentalists want9.

The climate plan by Joe Biden, scientists say, will give the earth a fighting chance. In
addition to withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and the multinational deal aimed
at avoiding harmful Earth warming, the team of President Trump has worked tirelessly to
eliminate what they perceive as threats to efficient energy production.

On the first day of his presidency Biden had already promised to re-join the Paris Climate
Agreement and even to withdraw the permit approving the Keystone XL pipeline expansion.
The new president also plans to sign executive orders immediately that will reverse a slew of
other rollbacks of legislation. This includes Trump's much-heralded "America First" energy
plan to open the coastal waters of the United States to oil and gas exploration and Trump's
reversal of an Obama initiative that directed government departments to slash their own
greenhouse gas emissions by 40% in a decade.

What Biden can do?

8
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/02/donald-trump-climate-change-michael-mann-interview
9
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ccb93519-0811-4fd1-9f81-3fac46ec0f42

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Even if Republicans hold control of the Senate, Biden's proposal to spend $2 trillion to
produce zero carbon emissions by 2050 is unlikely to be implemented.

The question now is what environmental progress can potentially be made by a Biden
presidency? Will Biden even be able to revive Obama-era environmental policies when the
pandemic and stalled economy demand urgent attention?

While political divisions impose significant limits on what Biden can do, they do not
completely tie his hands. Here are some of the major areas where Biden might intervene
quickly or at least without legislation from Congress.

What can be done with executive orders?

Many of the changes to the climate and environmental policies of the nation made by the
Trump Administration were done by executive authority. Biden can use those same tools to
undo what Trump did, by reversing any or all of the executive orders Trump has signed.

Trump reduced the Bears Ears field by 85 percent and the Grand Staircase Escalante by 50
percent in the biggest reversal of rights for public property in U.S. history 10. That set up a
legal battle about whether the Antiquities Act of 1906, which gives presidents wide authority
to establish national monuments, was supposed to grant them the right to reverse or curtail
their predecessors' acts.

An executive order signed by Biden may return the monuments to their original scale
immediately and shielding those regions from logging and exploitation of other resources.

What will require new regulations

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/11/battle-for-the-american-west-bears-ears-national-
10

monument/

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Biden could also reverse Trump's attempts to change federal environmental regulations
without Congressional approval. It is simply possible to scrap any new regulation not
finalised by the time Trump's term expires. However, new rules that have already taken effect
will stay on the books. Biden will have to start new rulemaking to amend them, a dynamic,
multi-step process that requires widespread public consultation and often takes many years.

More than 100 regulations were revised by Trump, from narrow to consequential. He scaled
back quality requirements for dishwashers, for example, and opened up more than half of the
Tongass National Forest in Alaska, one of the largest temperate rain forests in the world, to
logging.

Biden may also reverse some laws surrounding methane, a highly active greenhouse gas, by
reversing rollbacks. Those rollbacks included the removal of federal requirements to track
and repair methane emissions from wells, pipelines, and storage facilities by oil and gas
companies.

Conclusion

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While not perfect, a Biden presidency is essential to get the US and by extension, the world
back on track in mitigating climate change during the era of a post COVID-19 recovery.
Essentially, the Biden administration would have to reconstruct the US’s position in the
climate process. Much of his first term would go into undoing the damage caused by Trump’s
tenure as President of the US and get the country to re-join the Paris Agreement.

What Biden can’t do is regain the critical time lost in the global effort to tackle climate
change. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued
increasingly urgent alerts during the Trump years saying that the window to avoid the worst
of climate change is closing11. The failure of Trump to resolve the problem is considered by
many scholars to be the greatest harm he has inflicted on the world. That presents the
administration of Biden with its biggest environmental challenge.

11
https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12131.doc.htm

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