On the schedule for President Biden’s first day on the job? Moving quickly to reverse Trump’s business and energy-first environmental policies. According to Gina McCarthy, President Biden’s national climate advisor, Biden will move immediately to sign more than a dozen executive orders today, one of which will direct federal officials to tackle 100 different projects meant to undo Trump’s environmental legacy.
President Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law last year, permanently funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund and directing more money to national parks, but also presided over an Interior department that prioritized industry over environment.
Among the executive orders President Biden is expected to sign during his first afternoon as commander-in-chief, are ones directing that America rejoins the 2015 Paris Climate Accords, and a order to rescind the permit issued to the Keystone XL pipeline running across the Canadian/American border, halting construction of the project that has already begun in Canada. Biden will also immediately cease construction of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, a giant relief to conservationists in the Southwest, outraged by the construction of a wall through a sensitive and wild ecosystem.
“Today we are feeling the first rays of hope after four dark years where racial violence and injustice, destruction of our environment and disdain for climate science became standard operating procedure for a government that was supposed to represent us all,” said Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society. “The Biden administration’s expected order to immediately begin tackling the climate crisis opens tremendous opportunity for communities across the country to come together and rebuild around this shared national goal.”
Biden is also planning to halt lease sales for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, leases opened by Trump’s administration just weeks ago. Within his broader push to undo Trump’s environmental decisions, Biden will also restore Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments to their original sizes, reversing the Trump administration’s shrinking and opening of them to oil and gas drilling.
In addition, Biden’s initial push will include directing federal agencies to enact stricter rules for gas mileage requirements for cars and trucks, and will set more stringent standards for carbon emissions by industry and air travel.
Top photo: Six Shooter Peaks, Bears Ears National Monument. Credit: BLM
Hopefully reverses the land transfer of Oak Flat in Arizona to Rio Tinto too.
Well, the Democrats now have complete control so they need to tackle everything legislatively, not via EO fiat. Every EO done by Biden is subject to reversal by future republicans. If he’s serious about the environment and making lasting change, he’ll follow the appropriate path and work with Congress. Making changes via EO is a lazy path of least resistance and is meaningless in the long run.
There is so far to go in reversing the damage done in the last 4 yrs, but the knot that has been in my stomach during that time is slowly starting to loosen.
Ah yer full of crap … Damage done is imaginary… People first and country first… All you environmental wise asses are worried about countryside that the locals would like to see some commerce effect.. But as usual, know-it all Liberal environmentalists think we can replace everything with windfarms and Solar Photo Voltaic farms that would need to cover 25% of the mostly green, mostly rural USA…
In the Arctic for example … You want to preserve a wilderness that maybe 25 thousand Americans have the wherewithal or interest in visiting between the black flies, mosquitos, summer mud and winter freeze… But say, the feds should have say so over the locals in Alaska et cetera, after all the feds know best for every individual in every state, county and village and you ‘d better not contradict them or you’re a racist , white supremacist, Nazi terrorist and don’t you forget it… You want to preserve it for your holidays…
I am so fed up with leftist self-righteousness … They are the true totalitarians.
I think you may be looking at the wrong facts there Allen. Most of these areas actually provide more money and jobs to the local economy when they are used for recreation instead of extraction of minerals and grazing. More jobs and more money for working people. Not just a bunch of money for a small group of investors. I notice not one major energy company bid on any of the ANWAR mineral rights just auctioned. You are right about one thing. It IS the Governments job to preserve and protect these natural wonders for ALL Americans, now and for time in perpetuity.
“tv” you took the words right out of my mouth! oak flat here in arizona is an ancient apache cultural site.
the designation, i believe, goes back to president eisenhower! not only would it destroy native cultural sites, it would destroy the aquifers that surround the mine prospect site. furthermore it’s not even an american company that wants to destroy the landscape.
It’s really an incredibly beautiful and unique landscape with a rare riparian area. Tens of thousands of ancient oaks. It’s so under appreciated. Not to mention Sacred to Native Americans. Want to see what it will do to the environment? One need look no farther than 20 miles away to the modern Ghost Town of Globe. It’s a waste land of tailings laced with toxic heavy metals and radioactive material. Google it.
in many regards the US fell back to 3rd world standards or never rose above. the economic reliance on extractive activities is one of those symptoms. it’s kind of unbelievable that this is still being done here in the States.
time to move forward and away from digging for coal, copper, uranium, etc..
there are exception like rare earth metals, gas and such which have intrinsic immediate and strategic values. of course, that is up for debate…
This country has lots of problems, greed being chief among them.
RE: Oak Flat and Rio Tinto.
Rio Tinto is currently battling with the fallout of their misdeeds in the Juukan Gorge in the pilbara region of Western Australia. They destroyed (dynamited) one of the most significant archaelogical sites in Australia to dig Iron Ore. Huge fines, plus CEO and others forced to resign.
They have proven they dont care about cultural sites back home…lets hope we can protect our sites in the USA from them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juukan_Gorge