Pictured above: President-elect Joseph Biden Jr. Image courtesy of Flickr.
By Abby Wester ’22
Staff Writer
After many grueling days spent counting absentee ballots, Joe Biden was announced president-elect of the United States on Saturday, Nov. 7. Biden’s win is generally seen by climate policy experts as a step in the right direction, but the efficacy and strength of his environmental policies have still yet to be determined.
In the Democratic primary, Biden was seen as one of the least progressive candidates when it came to climate. But when Biden became the candidate for the Democratic Party, he ran on a platform that prioritized combating climate change in the hopes of rallying his base. He has since proposed the most ambitious climate plan to ever be released by a major U.S. presidential candidate.
The political alignment of the Senate might challenge Biden’s ability to implement his plan. The Senate has been majority Republican since 2015. As of today, the political divide of the Senate is still in question, with Republicans holding 50 seats, Democrats holding 46 and independents holding two. Two more Senate seats are still up in the air in Georgia, where a runoff election will occur in January. The results of that election will either create a Republican majority or a tie between the parties.
A majority Republican Senate is traditionally seen as an enemy to climate policy and could block the legislation promised by Biden during his campaign. If any votes the Senate takes are divided 50 against 50, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will vote to break the tie.
If Biden is able to follow through on his climate promises, there may still be pressure and resistance from the political left. Biden’s moderate approach to climate in the primaries, along with his allegiance to fracking, have not left the minds of climate activists. Groups such as the Sunrise Movement have already spoken about their high expectations of Biden and are ready to be critical of his climate policies.
No matter the political makeup of the Senate or the hastiness of climate activists, Biden will have his work cut out for him when it comes to climate policy. President Donald Trump has spent the last four years disregarding climate science, reversing environmental regulations and, most recently, removing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. Biden’s response to climate change will likely displease many Americans given the divided politics of the nation. Climate change, however, will not wait for political disagreements as it continues to ravage our world.