* Amid all the ego-driven drama and chaos accompanying the Trump-Biden transition during a pandemic, it’s easy to overlook the priority that Biden has given to climate policy. No, it’s not the “Green New Deal,” but it’s nothing like the denialism and disingenuousness of the fossil-fueled Trump Administration that has eroded EPA regulations and pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord. The Biden tone was set with the appointment of former Secretary of State John Kerry, a major international player, as special presidential envoy for climate. Besides an obvious worldwide signal of commitment, the Kerry selection means that for the first time, the National Security Council will include an official dedicated to climate change as an urgent national security priority. “We literally have no time to waste,” underscored President-elect Biden.
Moreover, by nominating Janet Yellen, former Federal Reserve chair and onetime head of President Bill Clinton’s Council on Economic Advisers, as Treasury Secretary, Biden can graphically connect job creation with environmental goals. Yellen, new National Economic Council director Brian Deese and Neera Tanden, the nominee to head the White House Office of Management and Budget, are preparing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate clean energy production into the economic stimulus legislation that the incoming Administration is crafting.
It’s a sobering reminder that being motivated to protect lives and save the planet is not reason enough to take a strong stand on climate change. No, it also requires pragmatic, bottom-line economic context. The word “jobs” will be Rick Scott-ubiquitous and on a constant loop in search of bipartisan support for financial regulations that could further speed up the deployment of wind and solar energy, electric cars and other initiatives to reduce emissions. The Biden White House won’t be pushing an either/or–tree huggers or fossil fuelers—agenda. This will be 21st century jobs growth that also addresses the ultimate existential threat to our way of life and our planet. Too bad it’s still a partisan issue for too many.
* “I think China is waiting to see what the Biden Administration will announce and can deliver on. They are trying to signal that they’re going to continue to move forward on climate action domestically but they’re also holding back.”–Jack Schmidt, managing directorof the Natural Resources Defense Council’s International Program.
* “Among the myriad challenges inherited by the incoming Biden Administration will be not only ending our nation’s longest war, in Afghanistan, but also defining what ending a war actually means.”–Elliot Ackerman, author of “Places and Names: On War, Revolution and Returning.”
* Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia has sponsored a bill that would require ambassadors-to-be to disclose their country knowledge and language skills in detail, along with any political contributions given or bundled over the previous decade. It hasn’t gotten a lot of national buzz, but you can bet the incoming Biden Administration is well aware of the downside of ambassadorships for sale.