Forecasting Climate Impact: The Next President’s Influence
TL/DR –
The article contrasts the climate policies of Biden and Trump, in light of Super Tuesday’s results. Biden’s administration has implemented significant climate change legislation, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, both funding clean energy and climate change mitigation. Meanwhile, Trump’s presidency saw the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the dismantling of environmental policies, with a return to office potentially leading to an additional four billion tons of carbon emissions.
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Super Tuesday Decides Climate Change Future
Super Tuesday confirmed Biden and Trump for the upcoming election. Their approaches to climate change vary considerably.
Climate change was largely not considered until the late 1980s. In 1988, the yearly average temperature was 0.42º C above the 20th-century average. However, 2023 shattered this record with an average temperature of 1.18º C above the 20th-century average.
Biden’s Climate Benefiting Policies
Upon taking office, Biden enacted significant climate change policies. He passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, both allocating substantial resources into clean energy and climate change mitigation.
The Biden administration also launched the Justice40 Initiative. This initiative ensures benefits from clean energy investments are diverted to disadvantaged communities, which often bear the brunt of climate change effects and have toxic polluting facilities in their neighborhoods.
Despite these efforts, Biden’s initiative has faced criticism. In March 2023, he approved the controversial Willow Project, an oil drilling project on Alaska’s north slope.
Trump’s Climate Report Card
Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement soon after taking office in 2017. The U.S. officially left the agreement in November 2020.
An analysis from Carbon Brief predicts an additional four billion tonnes of carbon emissions if Trump returns to office.
Trump has previously referred to climate change as a Chinese hoax and has flip-flopped on whether it is man-made. He has also expressed intentions to dismantle key environmental policies.
Regardless of the election outcome, the U.S’s climate impact is set to change. A Biden win would mean continued expansion of his programs, while a Trump win could lead to policy rollbacks, but the potential for future reversal.
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