In one of his first acts in office, President Biden has officially recommitted the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement. This international treaty is one of our most important tools for addressing the climate crisis, not only as a nation, but as a world.
America has a powerful role to play in curbing global carbon emissions. Along with President Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline, these commitments to lower our dependence on fossil fuels paint a hopeful picture for climate action under a new administration.1
Along with nearly 200 other countries, the United States entered the Paris Agreement in 2015. This treaty was formed to unite nations in global cooperation to curb carbon emissions and tackle the climate crisis by setting bold goals together. But when President Trump took office, he pulled our country out of the international agreement.2,3
But that didn’t mean progress stopped. Governors, state leaders and local officials came together to continue working to meet America’s promise in the U.S. Climate Alliance. We’ve been running campaigns in states and cities, universities and businesses, to uphold the goals of the Paris Agreement, and leading into Biden’s presidency, we advocated for his recommitment to the agreement in our sister group Environment America Research & Policy Center’s report “First Things to Fix.”4
Though this is a major victory for our environment, there is no simple fix to climate change. This year has seen record-breaking wildfires across the American West, devastating storms and flooding in the Midwest, and yet another extremely active hurricane season.
With every passing year, it becomes more and more vital that we set bold goals and see them through in order to leave a planet that is livable for future generations, full of vast wilderness and water safe for drinking, a diverse array of wildlife, and clean air for us all.
A new administration and Congress give us new opportunities for environmental protection. We’ll continue advocating for increased renewable energy, more safeguards for our precious wild places, increased energy efficiency programs to cut down on energy waste, and other campaigns to tackle our biggest environmental challenges.
- Ellen Montgomery, Josh Chetwynd, “Statement: President Biden expected to cancel Keystone XL pipeline permit,” Environment America, January 18, 2021.’
- “The Paris Agreement,” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2021.
- Andrea McGimsey, “Statement: Trump administration officially pulls the U.S. out of the international Paris Accord setting back climate progress,” Environment America, November 2, 2020.
- “First Things to Fix,” Environment America, U.S. PIRG, Frontier Group, December 2020.
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