System change or climate change: Why Biden must abandon his bipartisan instincts
Unless he somehow overhauls the regressive power structures forged by Trump, US president-elect Joe Biden’s progressive energy and climate agenda risks being undone by resurgent Trumpism in 2024.
Since Joe Biden emerged as US president-elect, jubilant commentators on energy and climate matters have been falling over each other to highlight the many progressive climate measures that a Democratic administration could implement, even without control of the Senate. Tools at the president’s disposal include executive orders, appointing climate experts throughout his cabinet and to key regulatory positions, instituting stricter emissions rules, forcing listed companies to disclose their climate risk exposure, putting climate change at the heart of US diplomacy… the list goes on (literally, there’s a bunch of links below).
Suffice to say, there are endless avenues for a Democratic administration with a laser-beam focus on climate change to explore, even if the Republicans maintain their choke-hold on the legislature—as appears most likely to occur, pending a January run-off in Georgia.
Amid the cacophony of optimism and good advice, there seems to be less outward appreciation of the un…
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