Rolling back some Trump-era immigration restrictions is a good thing, but maintaining Trump’s catastrophically inhumane limits on the entry-access to the US of refugees and asylum – seekers isn’t magically more humane just because Biden isn’t Trump. The results of Biden’s presidency elsewhere are, so far, significantly more mixed. While much remains to be done – particularly in ensuring equitable vaccine access – the US is inarguably in a better position on the pandemic front than it was on 19 January. Joe Biden’s administration deserves credit for its work in inching the country toward managing the Covid-19 crisis. That would be true under any circumstances, let alone under circumstances defined by the overlapping crises of a global pandemic, entrenched racism and a climate on the brink. Inheriting the US presidency from the most incapable person to ever hold the office was never going to make for an easy job. Simon Balto: Biden’s efforts are laudable but insufficient Kate Aronoff covers the climate crisis for The New Republic US natural gas production – which pours prolific amounts of heat-trapping methane into the atmosphere – could grow to record levels in 2022 as fuel demand surges back.īiden can play nice with deficit hawks and the fossil fuel industry, or he can tackle the climate crisis at the speed and scale required. It’s currently on track to increase by 2% annually. For a decent shot of capping warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, the 2020 Production Gap Report finds that global fossil fuel production will have to decline 6% each year through 2030. Neither will the climate crisis be solved by simply throwing money at the industries of tomorrow. It’s also worth remembering that, for now, even those modest commitments are just rhetoric: nothing has passed. Yet spending just 0.5% of GDP each year to reduce emissions, as the American Jobs Plan intends, is nowhere near enough to take on an existential threat. That Biden has consistently framed climate action as an engine of job creation and a massive investment opportunity is a welcome corrective to rhetoric about shrinking personal carbon footprints and technocratic tweaks.
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