The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places
– Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

This line, from one of my favorite novels, has been on my mind recently. Though in a different time and context than Hemingway wrote of following World War I, I find it incredibly relevant today. Our world and our country are broken, and the past four years have been particularly shattering. However, with the change of administration comes renewed hope and resolve, including a monumental hope for positive environmental change.

I think many of us are suffering from something akin to PTSD from the past four years (exacerbated by a pandemic) – it’s no secret that the last administration was absolutely devastating for environmental regulation (the Berkeley Law Center has a comprehensive list of rollbacks). But it’s time to move forward and the Biden Administration is doing just that. In the first few days of his presidency, Biden has taken swift action to make climate and environment a policy priority. Already, President Biden has taken executive actions* to:

  • Rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement (effective February 19)
  • Revok the Keystone XL Pipeline’s federal permit
  • Pledged to review a laundry list of Trump administration regulatory actions aimed at propping up high-emitting industries
  • Ban new leases and permits for fossil fuels
  • Restore national monuments (Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante)
  • Place a temporary moratorium on all oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
  • Advance oil and gas methane regulations, energy efficiency standards for appliances, and the air toxic rule for power plants

*While executive actions bypass the need for Congressional approval, they can be challenged by the courts (which currently lean conservative).

This is great progress, but only the beginning and more must be done to aggressively curb climate change. While President Biden has taken steps to revert to many of the Obama Administration’s climate policies, the Biden Administration cannot simply stop there and does not plan on doing so.

Expect to see a resurgence of clean air, clean water, and clean power, and for it to be more economically viable. These are growing sectors that will have downstream effects, changing the way we live in positive and practical ways. The world was broken, but we’re going to build it back better.

Leave a comment