The Conscious Clipper, The Race to 2050: Climate Change Regulation in Biden Administration

2050.

A year that seems lightyears away from the doldrums of today. And yet, in ecological time, thirty years is the blink of an eye.

According to most climate scientists, 2050 is the point of no return regarding climate change, the point at which the momentum of the problem will overcome the human capacity for a solution.

In order to change the dark predictions of the future, the next four years of American environmental policy will be crucial. Without American leadership, according to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the world will not make the emission reduction goal for 2050 -- or 2060, for that matter.

Enter President-Elect Joe Biden.

Among other ambitious pledges, on Day One of his Presidential term, Biden committed to rejoining the Paris Climate Accords, the global treaty for climate change regulation from which President Trump withdrew in 2017. Rejoining the Accords would begin to reestablish the United States as champions of environmental protection, helping us become leaders once more on the global stage. However, after four years of deregulation, one questions whether the United States will be welcomed back into the international climate conversation.

More broadly, Biden’s pledges to remove carbon emissions from the energy/power sector by 2035, and the entire economy by 2050, ambitious goals considering our status as the second-largest consumer of greenhouse gases. However, with Senate control split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, and Democratic Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris acting as the tie breaker on votes, the Biden administration will have an easier time getting new legislation passed.

This being said, more than legislation is necessary to meet Biden’s 2035 and 2050 goals. According to Norwell’s own Ms. Lozan, teacher of AP Environmental Science and unofficial climate change guru, the frequent shift of Presidential administrations means that change must come in the private sector as well -- industries like steel and energy need to recognize the moral and economic impetus of environmental protection, and take action themselves.

Despite the difficulty of federal changes, Ms. Lozan sees promise in the Biden administration climate change solutions, including the first-ever national climate advisor. With an advisor inside the White House, Biden will take a more holistic approach to climate change than even that taken by the Obama administration. Beyond the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, the Biden administration will involve every aspect of the executive branch in the process of solving climate change, from the Department of State to the Treasury Department.

While these plans do not present a guarantee of a clean and safe future, they represent the hope for a better future -- and hope is far more powerful than even the strongest green energy.

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The Conscious Clipper is written by Rose Hansen