President Biden pledged early in his tenure to use every corner of the federal government — and every lever at his disposal — to combat climate change with “a greater sense of urgency.” During his inauguration, he declared: "A cry for survival comes from the planet itself, a cry that can't be any more desperate or anymore clear." On that day, as if to put an exclamation point on his statement, he blocked a major oil pipeline, signaled that the U.S. would rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and targeted many Trump-era rollbacks.
WHAT DID THE BIDEN EXECUTIVE BRANCH ACCOMPLISH DOMESTICALLY?
- On the first day of his administration, President Biden signed an executive order entitled, “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” The order rolled back many actions taken by the earlier Trump administration to loosen environmental standards and protections, and called on all federal agency heads to review and “consider suspending, revising, or rescinding agency actions” that may be inconsistent with Biden’s articulated policy. The order was divided into eight sections:
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- policy;
- immediate review of environmental actions taken during President Trump’s term;
- restoring national monuments;
- Arctic refuge;
- accounting for the benefits of reducing climate pollution;
- revoking the March 2019 permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline;
- other revocations; and
- general provisions.
As directed by that Executive Order, major Federal agencies were required to develop an adaptation and resilience plan to address their most significant climate risks and vulnerabilities. On October 7, 2021, the White House announced the release of those plans.
- President Biden created the Build Back Better Plan in 2021, the largest effort to combat climate change in American history. The plan sets a goal of net zero emissions in energy by 2035 and for the entire economy by 2050.
- In November 2021, Congress passed Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) with the goal of building America’s roads, bridges and rails, tackling the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice and more.
- In August, 2022, Congress passed Biden’s stunning Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the most consequential climate legislation in history. The Act helps reduce America’s carbon emissions 40% by 2030. It also focuses on funding job-creating green projects and making clean energy more accessible to Americans. The Act also assists communities suffering from the hardships of climate change.
- By executive order, President Biden created the National Climate Task Force made up of his cabinet in his government-wide approach to the climate crisis. The Task Force serves many functions: increase resilience to the impacts of climate change; protect public health; conserve our lands, waters, oceans, and biodiversity; deliver environmental justice; and spur well-paying union jobs and economic growth.
- In April, 2023, the President also signed an executive order to revitalize the nation’s commitment to environmental justice for all. The order calls special attention to marginalized communities who are impacted by climate change than others.
- In September, 2023, President Biden created the American Climate Corps to train young people for jobs in clean energy and conservation. It also promotes climate resilience and creates good-paying jobs that tackle the climate crisis. In April, 2024, the first class of the American Climate Corps was deployed.
- In January, 2024, the Biden administration paused the approval of new liquified natural gas exports.
- On May 6, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a final rule to cut methane emissions, strengthen and update greenhouse gas emissions reporting for the oil and gas sector.
- On June 20, the Biden-Harris Administration released updated Climate Adaptation Plans developed by more than 20 federal agencies that expand agency efforts to ensure their facilities, employees, resources, and operations are increasingly resilient to climate change impacts like extreme weather.
WAS THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PERFECT?
Despite all his efforts, the Biden Administration did not have a perfect record on climate policy. This is partially explained by Biden’s not having control of Congress throughout his administration, as he lost control of the House in 2022. For example, although he was able to protect a large amount of federal land, with the America the Beautiful initiative, aiming to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, he also agreed to sell off a significant amount. His administration also approved the Willow Project, a massive oil drilling operation in Alaska. That said, overall, federal oil drilling leases have slowed down significantly under the Biden Administration.
DID THE MEDIA KEEP TRACK?
FYI: The Washington Post, much as it did for the previous Trump Administration, kept track of Biden’s environmental actions here. As of January, 2025, the Biden administration had added 123 climate policies, and proposed 73 more. It also overturned 99 of Trump’s policies, targeted 77 others and not targeted 56. Details for each action live on this extremely valuable page going back to January 20, 2021.
