President Joe Biden signed a series of directives to combat climate change that he presented as a boost for U.S. employment, arguing that improvements in infrastructure and technology to curb global warming will add millions of jobs. “Today is climate day at the White House which means that today is jobs day the White House,” Biden said Wednesday, as he unveiled measures aimed at fulfilling a campaign pledge.
The announcement marked the latest in a series of executive actions intended to quickly reverse some of the more controversial policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump, who rejected calls to address global warming and pulled the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.
Even as he cited the potential long-term jobs gains, Biden also took actions regarded as adversarial by the fossil fuels industry, among them halting the issuance of new oil and natural gas drilling leases on federal lands — prompting an early legal challenge from the energy industry. His administration seeks to leverage federal regulations and purchasing power to fight climate change.
The actions he took on Wednesday, he said, will “supercharge our administration’s ambitious plan to confront the existential threat of climate change.”
Shifting to cleaner methods of transportation and power generation while reinforcing U.S. property and infrastructure against extreme weather from the changing climate would add millions of “good paying union jobs,” he said.
Opening Climate Response
The sweeping actions represent Biden’s opening foray to respond to a crisis his administration has described as on par with the coronavirus pandemic and systemic racial inequality. The president will host a global climate summit on April 22 — which is Earth Day — and has ordered a review of fossil-fuel subsidies and emissions targets.
“This is a case where conscience and convenience cross paths,” he said. “When I think of climate change, I think of answers to it, I think of jobs.”
The pause on new leases was a flashpoint during the presidential campaign, with former President Donald Trump attacking Biden regularly on the stump for a move that Republicans argue could kill jobs in states where fracking and oil drilling are key industries. About 22% of total U.S. crude supplies and 12% of U.S. natural gas came from federal lands and waters in 2019, according to the Energy Information Administration.