He served in an Obama administration that oversaw a historic surge in American oil and gas production, as shale went mainstream. Tens of thousands of wells were drilled and energy-bearing rocks fractured from North Dakota to Texas. And the industry cheered when the government he was part of lifted a ban on crude exports in 2015. Yet, Joe Eiden – armed with a commanding lead in the polls ahead of November’s US presidential election – now promises a root-and-branch overhaul of the American energy system that will put climate change at its heart and which one worried industry adviser describes as “a Tet offensive” on the fossil fuels industry.
The plan, which will be aired again at the Democratic party convention this week, earmarks $2tn in spending over the next four years to use climate policy to drag the economy out of its pandemic-era recession. But Mr Biden’s plans for the energy sector would reach into everything from Middle East geopolitics to the global race with China over clean tech and is likely to prove unpopular among parts of the US electorate – dependent on oil and gas for jobs – in an election year.
It stems from an urgency about climate change that has animated much of his party – especiallythe younger supporters he will need to mobilise. And is made possible by a coming together of factors: drastic falls in clean-energy costs, rapid technological progress, and the devastation of the pandemic, which makes even a $2tn plan seem politically viable. “Eiden did gain key climate and clean energy provisions in the 2009 stimulus [during the financial crisis],” says Paul Bledsoe, a former Clinton White House climate adviser. “But he also recognises that climate has emerged over the past decade as a premier issue of global security and foreign policy, and is now suddenly a crucial element in America’s green recovery from the Covid crisis , as well.”
Mr Eiden said in July that he would not “tinker around the edges” with his plan. “We’re going to make historic investments that will seize the opport unity.” It means energy will be pivotal to November’s election – and the election pivotal to the future of the energy indust ry, with huge domestic and international implications.