By Jeffrey Kluger
President Trump has destroyed many environmental policies over just 4 years. He pulled the US out of the 2015 Paris Agreement, loosened emissions policies, and opened up protected land for drilling and mining. He has signed more than 100 deregulating policies, more than half of which have already gone into effect. If Biden gets elected, what could he do to reverse these policies?
The biggest move would probably be recommitting to the Paris Agreement. It would make a global statement that the US is going to be at the forefront of climate control again. However, this wouldn’t necessarily be easy. He will have to negotiate a way back in, with a deal that would sound sweet to the 196 other nations involved. The easiest way would be to up the US’s commitment with higher percentages of cut emissions.
Then, domestically, Biden would need to make sure he actually follows through. Luckily for him, Congress was divided during Trump’s term, meaning that most of his policies were fluid Executive Orders that Biden could easily undo with his own laws on Day 1. After that, he would most likely look to old laws for guidance in the way forward, and make them stricter. Passing those laws, though, would require both a Democratic hold in the House and a flip in the Senate. He could also attach environmental regulations to COVID economic recovery bills that would be more likely to pass.
Biden will have a lot to cleanup from Trump’s four years. The environment may be the biggest mess.
See also: Time: The Defining Year
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