Joe Biden's 2021 Climate Report Card

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Joe Biden's head on a black background. — It’s like he’s in space, watching over the Earth.

We’re nearly a year into the Joe Biden presidency, a presidency the man himself declared would be devoted to combatting climate change. He arrived in office at the start of a critical decade, and the Biden years will play a major role in shaping it.

Biden started the Democratic primaries with one of the weakest climate plans before strengthening it after activists pushed him. Still, whether he, even with full control of Congress, could deliver meaningful climate policies was an open question. Nearly a year later, we have some answers.

The president alone doesn’t hold all the cards to address climate change in the U.S., let alone the world. The Republican party and fossil fuel industry have thrown their full weight behind ensuring Biden has as little help as possible. But the occupant of the White House and the federal agencies they oversee have an enormous amount of power to shape the response to the crisis we face. With that in mind, Earther has put together a report card to gauge if Biden has delivered on his “all of government” promise to fix the world’s most pressing problem. And we’re not grading on a curve because physics doesn’t believe in grade inflation.

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International Policy

President Joe Biden is visible in the lower lefthand corner, sitting under a COP26 banner. — President Joe Biden attends an Action on Forests and Land Use event on day three of COP26.

Let’s start with the mixest of bags, the area that perhaps most perfectly defines the challenges for President Joe Biden. One of the first things he did was bring the U.S. back into the Paris Agreement, followed a few months later by committing to reducing carbon emissions at least 50% by 2030. This is good, though not in line with what a “fair share” of emissions would be since the U.S. is the largest historical carbon polluter. Still, it gave the world a 50-50 shot to meet the Paris Agreement temperature targets, which ain’t nothing.

Yet at United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, the administration was a sometimes nefarious force. The final pact it played a major role in shaping could be described, like so many international agreements before it, as progress and not nearly enough. The U.S. also signed a few side agreements that were Fine, but it failed to sign the most important of all: A pact creating an alliance to end fossil fuel exploration.

Shortly after the talks ended, the administration opened up the largest fossil fuel lease sale in U.S. history. If we were to break down the grade, we’d give an A- in rhetoric and a D in execution. (To be fair, most countries scored the same. But remember, no curve!)

Grade: C

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Fixing Trump Mistakes

Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks in front of lights on stage. — Former President Donald Trump takes the stage.

The Trump years were a nightmare. But in the span of just one year, Biden has managed to clean up much of the mess left behind by his predecessor. He installed climate champions at key agencies, from Deb Haaland at the Department of Interior to Michael Regan at the Environmental Protection Agency. They got to work immediately.

At the EPA, Regan cleaned out industry shills on the agency’s science advisory board; relaunched the EPA’s climate change website; rescinded a rule that would make it easier for polluters to get off the hook; and did away with another rule that made a mockery of science in rulemaking. (We’ll talk a bit more about Haaland in a bit.) Elsewhere, the Department of Energy has been busy restoring energy efficiency standards for home appliances and furnaces, something that Trump was weirdly fixated on rolling back. Good job cleaning up this mess.

Grade: A

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Federal Lands

People standing near Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park with Half Dome in the background.

Haaland’s Interior Department has restored protections for monuments like Bears Ears and wild spaces like the Tongass National Forest. That’s a big win for the public and Indigenous groups that were on the frontlines of the fight to protect Bears Ears.

But the department is all but failing when it comes to keeping oil and gas interests off public lands. After a promising start with Biden signing an executive order pausing the federal oil and gas leasing program, his administration caved to a lawsuit brought by red states, offering the largest fossil fuel lease sale in U.S. history in November. It also defended a Trump-era plan to allow ConocoPhillips drill in the Arctic. Since taking office, Biden has approved more lease sales than Trump did in every year of his presidency except the last one. Meanwhile, the White House also argued in September that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report showing the dire impacts if we keep digging up fossil fuels “does not present sufficient cause” to end offshore drilling. Looks like someone needs a crash course in climate science and reading comprehension.

Grade: C

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Pipelines

A red sign reading "pipeline construction ahead" sits in a field, marking construction of the Line 3 Pipeline project near the Mississippi River. — Signage marks construction of the Line 3 Pipeline project near the Mississippi River.

Another day one priority for Biden was signing an executive order to pull the Keystone XL pipeline’s permits. The project was officially declared dead in the water in May, marking a huge victory for activists who have spent years fighting the pipeline. But the administration has also signaled support for both the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline and the Dakota Access pipeline, defending both in court and missing what activists say are key moments to intervene and shut them down. Combined with the aforementioned embrace of oil and gas presence on federal land, there’s a lot to worry about here—and definite room for improvement next year.

Grade: C

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Clean Energy

A worker installs solar panels on a roof.

There’s no clearer area where Biden needs Congress than on clean energy. Biden has set up mandates for the government to go carbon-free by 2030, which is no small deal given the size of the federal building footprint. He also set a goal of getting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind online by 2030, a radical but achievable target. Biden even signed off on what would be the nation’s first major offshore wind farm, getting the ball rolling on meeting that goal. All this and more would get the U.S. closer to the zero-carbon grid Biden wants by 2035. Good! The problem is that other really important tools, including money to cajole utilities to clean up their electricity sources and improve transmission, are in the hands of Congress. And thanks to 50 Republican senators and one Sen. Joe Manchin, those tools largely remain under lock and key. Speaking of…

Grade: B-

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Build Back Better

Sen. Joe Manchin walks in front of the presidential podium on the White House lawn. — Sen. Joe Manchin arrives before President Joe Biden takes part in a signing ceremony for the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Build Back Better is the mantra Biden’s campaign and then presidency has pushed. The pandemic is a chance for the U.S.—and the world—to take stock of what’s not working and change course. For Biden, that agenda has been tethered to the Build Back Better Act, which would give him a clean energy win as well as a new social safety net. The act is, essentially, his legacy. But it’s been a headache for much of his first year. Biden’s opening offer of a $2.25 trillion suite of programs was at both wildly ambitious and not nearly enough (a common theme these days).

Centrist Democrats shot it down so Biden whittled it down a bit more in May. The whittling continued, thanks largely to Manchin, and culminated in the West Virginia senator shooting it down on Fox News using utterly spurious logic (after vetoing the best provisions in it despite Biden wanting them at the center of the agenda!). It’s not just on Biden to get Manchin (or one rogue Republican) to yes, and it’s possible we’ll get some version of a Manchinified Build Back Better in 2022. But either way, he’s going to have to retake this class if he wants a passing grade.

Grade: F

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Courts

The Justice Department is perhaps the weakest link in Biden’s “all of government” approach to climate change. From caving on the administration’s oil and gas leasing pause, to standing up for the Line 3 and Dakota Access pipelines over the demands of Native activists, to defending a potentially catastrophic plan to drill in the Arctic, the DOJ made a number of decisions this year that puzzled and enraged climate activists. A small but particularly heartbreaking move came in April when the DOJ effectively quashed any hope of moving forward for a landmark case brought against the federal government by 21 young climate activists.

“The court system has an essential role to play in addressing the climate crisis, and Biden has promised to hold polluters accountable for the damage they knowingly caused,” Kassie Siegel, the Climate Law Institute director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told Earther in April. “The court system is the number one venue in which you do that—it’s all about accountability.” Attorney General Merrick Garland clearly needs to study up on that role.

Grade: F

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Environmental Justice

Climate protesters demonstrate alongside a tagged statue of President Andrew Jackson at the White House. The tag reads "expect us" in red. — Climate protesters demonstrate alongside a tagged statue of President Andrew Jackson at the White House.

On day one, Biden promised to prioritize environmental justice in a mega executive order on climate. The administration has spent its first year in office bringing people who have worked for decades on environmental rights for communities of color to figure out how to get its priorities right. It also released a massive initiative to kickstart federal programs intended to deliver on environmental justice. The administration’s actions like restoring methane regulations also have tangible benefits for communities of color in the path of pollution.

It hasn’t been perfect, though. Shortly after the election, Biden tapped Rep. Cederic Richmond to be a liaison with climate activists despite Richmond taking $340,000 from fossil fuel interests. The administration has ignored the demands of Native activists around pipelines. Activists have also pressured Biden on fossil fuel financing and rules after finding the government response lacking. A monster plastic plant in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley could still go through despite Black activists wanting its permits rescinded. (The pressure appears to have at least slowed the process down.) There’s definitely some good stuff here, but still room for improvement in 2022.

Grade: B-

Joe Biden's 2021 Climate Report Card

When elected, Joe Biden promised an "all of government" approach to address the climate crisis. The grades are in for his first year.

International Policy

International Policy

Fixing Trump Mistakes

Fixing Trump Mistakes

Federal Lands

Federal Lands

Pipelines

Pipelines

Clean Energy

Clean Energy

Build Back Better

Build Back Better

Courts

Courts

Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice