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Climate Change Policies Have Seen Great Change in Biden’s First 100 Days
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The Biden Administration has targeted climate change as a priority in its first 100 days. It is unraveling four years of President Donald Trump’s deregulation and laisse-faire attitude toward the environment.
Rarely have we seen so much change so quickly, says Dr. Geoffrey Dabelko, professor and associate dean at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Policy at Ohio University and senior advisor on “climate issues” at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.
President Joseph Biden has made sweeping changes across administrative fields, according to Dabelko. Biden is appointing key cabinet members who promote tackling climate change problems, and the appointment of former Sec. of State John Kerry as a White House coordinator of climate change policies is significant.
Biden is seeking a more integrated approach to tackling climate change issues. He is even including the State Department and major financial institutions in his battle, Dabelko notes.
Although there have been far-reaching changes in the country’s climate change policies in the first 100 days of Biden’s presidency, Dabelko sees potential battles on the horizon.
Biden may confront skirmishes even within his own political party as “Progressive Democrats” push him to do more than “Moderate Democrats” find desirable.
Biden also will face staunch opposition from House and Senate Republicans.
This opposition may spark further debate about eliminating the “Filibuster Rule” in the Senate that requires 60% of the Senators to stop a filibuster and bring a matter to the floor for a vote.
Some Democrats are advocating the elimination of the rule while others find it a safeguard against overwhelming partisan changes when the party is in the minority.
On the international front, Dabelko sees American rejoining the Paris Climate Accords but questions whether the USA can re-establish its former leadership role.