Joe Biden to sign orders to tackle climate change in line with pre-poll promise

US President Joe Biden will sign a series of executive orders today on Wednesday 27 to tackle the climate crisis both at home and abroad. The action is in line with his pre-poll promise of bringing clean energy revolution and environmental justice to the United States. This comes days after Biden rejoined the Paris Agreement from which Donald Trump had withdrawn the US in 2019 and ordered an immediate review of harmful regulations imposed by the previous administration. 

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"We have no time to waste when it comes to tackling the threat of climate change. That’s why today, I’ll be taking action to address the climate crisis with the urgency science demands," Joe Biden said in a Twitter post on Wednesday. 

Biden will sign an important Presidential Memorandum to ensure scientists are spared from political interference when it comes to climate-related research, which will also allow them to think and speak freely. Biden will sign an executive order to re-establish the White House Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The order will establish climate considerations as an essential element of US foreign policy and national security. 

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Climate change to be national security 

The newly created position of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate will have a seat on the National Security Council. The order states that it will be a US priority to push the international community for more eco-friendly policies that will allow the world to move a step closer towards achieving the climate goals before 2050. The order will also require the United States to fulfil its Paris Climate Agreement goals of emission reduction as well as a climate finance plan.

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The order also directs the Director of National Intelligence to prepare a National Intelligence Estimate on the security implications of climate change. The order requires federal agencies to procure zero-emission electric vehicles in order to create good-paying, union jobs and stimulate clean energy industries. The order also requires all federal agencies to upgrade their infrastructure in order to meet anti-pollution targets. The order also directs the Secretary of the Interior to halt the leasing of public lands and waters for oil and gas mining. 

To achieve environmental justice, the order directs federal agencies to give away 40% of their overall benefits towards the development of disadvantaged communities, who have suffered from climate-related issues because of inequalities for decades. 

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(Image Credit: AP)