WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s plans to finally put the United States on a course to combat climate change are colliding with an election-year rush to decrease gas costs and show voters actual economic success.
The Biden administration is attempting to thread the needle as environmentalists celebrate Earth Day on Friday, claiming that the country can continue to pursue a climate-friendly future while keeping costs reasonable.
However, the trade-offs have never looked so apparent.
The White House is keen to cut the cost of a gallon of petrol — the most prominent economic indicator, shown on giant, neon billboards at gas stations on practically every corner — ahead of potentially catastrophic November elections for Democrats. However, this implies expanding global gasoline production at a time when Biden is attempting to wean the United States off fossil fuels.
To prove that his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill is working, the administration is rushing to break ground on new roads, bridges, and public works projects. Biden, on the other hand, reintroduced laws requiring large infrastructure projects to go through complicated environmental and climate impact evaluations before they can begin, a move that might create major delays.
Biden is encouraging countries to cease buying Russian oil and gas as the White House seeks to deprive Moscow of the finances it needs to conduct its war in Ukraine. Nonetheless, the power has to come from someplace. The White House just approved increased U.S. gas exports to Europe, a measure that would necessitate the construction of costly new export facilities that will likely remain in use for years – even if the present crisis subsides.
To avoid their competing agendas clashing, the White House claims that sky-high gas prices and Russia’s conflict just emphasise the need for the US to transition to clean and renewable energy sources rapidly, removing the need to buy oil and gas from anybody.
“Ultimately, America and the rest of the world must completely diminish our reliance on fossil fuels,” Biden said last month as he proposed fresh initiatives to slash gas costs.
According to Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of the League of Conservation Voters, Russia’s invasion has made the elimination of fossil fuels a national security issue.
“It will ensure that we are no longer dependant on autocratic petrostates,” Sittenfeld explained. “And it’s evident that we won’t be able to reduce gas costs and achieve energy independence through drilling.”
Some energy analysts, however, have questioned this rationale, claiming that constructing massive new solar and wind farms is not a feasible approach for lowering energy costs quickly. Reduced demand for gas-guzzling automobiles, for example, would need the sale of millions more electric vehicles and the installation of tens of thousands more charging stations, both of which are unlikely to alleviate the current cost crisis for customers.
“The Biden administration is treading carefully,” Frank Maisano, a consultant at Bracewell LLP, which represents energy corporations, said. “The issue they’re having is that the energy reality we’re dealing with doesn’t square with the speedy transition they’d want to market.” The truth is that it will take longer.”
Biden’s sudden focus on cutting gas costs in the near term has sparked unusual schisms between his administration and environmental groups, which mostly praised his efforts to recommit the US to climate change in his first year. Climate activists plan to demonstrate outside the White House on Saturday to increase the president’s pre-election pressure.
The simmering tensions to a head last week when the administration said it will begin lease auctions for energy corporations to drill for oil and gas on federal lands in a news release sent Friday evening before Easter weekend and a week before Earth Day.
President Biden’s national climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, stated last week on MSNBC that “President Biden remains completely committed to not moving through with any drilling on public lands.” She stated that the administration “had no option” but to follow the court’s order and that it had “discovered methods to lessen the extent and impact of that.”
Despite the protests of environmentalists, the new leases are unlikely to cut gas prices anytime soon, due to the lengthy process of leasing, permitting, exploring, and drilling that must occur before any additional oil or gas can be brought to market.
“In the best case,” Capital Alpha Partners, an investment research firm, stated in a Thursday study, “the proposed lease sales would not result in additional output for at least two years or longer.”
As part of his Build Back Better domestic spending proposal, Biden was riding a wave of admiration and relief from climate advocates on his first Earth Day in office in April 2021, as he reversed many of former President Donald Trump’s moves on the issue, set aggressive new goals to cut U.S. emissions, and teed up the most far-reaching climate investment in history.
However, the budget bill died, taking with it more than half a billion dollars in climate funds, depriving Democrats of what would have been their most significant legislative accomplishment to campaign on ahead of the November elections. The White House has shifted its focus to what actions it can take on its own to advance its climate agenda, while highlighting the modest climate-related expenditures included in the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that was passed.
Democrats have expressed optimism that the more comprehensive climate legislation sought by Biden might still pass this year, either as a stand-alone bill or as part of a scaled-back version of his original Build Back Better programme. However, there have been no indications of meaningful, advanced conversations — notably with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a must-have vote — and time is running out before the campaign season makes legislation in Congress practically impossible.
Leading environmental advocacy organisations issued a letter to the White House on Friday, which was read by NBC News, urging him to rapidly pass legislation that contains the more than $550 billion in climate money with just Democratic votes, calling it a “legacy defining moment.”
The Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and other organisations stated, “It’s time to seal the deal and get this done.”
Meanwhile, the White House’s primary economic issue has become the gas price crisis, which has become a growing political danger for the president and his party.
Biden stated last month that he will release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the country’s strategic reserve, one of many moves aimed at lowering gas costs in the near future. He’s also allowing E15 biofuel to be marketed this summer, despite the fact that it’s normally prohibited during the hottest months of the year due to smog concerns, and encouraging energy companies in the United States and abroad to temporarily increase oil and gas drilling.
Officials from the White House have hailed the actions as solid, visible efforts taken by the president to cut costs ahead of an election that may hinge in large part on who voters blame for increasing prices and inflation.
“I believe a lot of climate groups have been incredibly aware of the short-term decisions that need to be taken to help working families in this grave situation,” said Jamal Raad, executive director of the nonprofit organisation Evergreen Action. “That said, none of the short-term actions we’re making right now can lock in long-term carbon rises.”
