Page 12 - NorthAmOil Week 44 2021

NorthAmOil POLICY NorthAmOil

Biden must convince COP26 that

the US can lead on climate

GLOBAL AS the UN climate talks at COP 26 in Glasgow from 2005 levels in economy-wide net green-
get under way, President Joe Biden has a tricky house gas (GHG) pollution by 2030. He has por-
task. He wants to try to position the US as a trayed the climate as one of his signature issues.
global leader, but his credibility on the issue is An increased amount of renewable energy is
in the balance because his own climate plan is a fundamental part of Biden’s climate plan.
being held up in a deeply divided US Congress. Biden, who will address COP 26 in its early
That’s in part because of differences within his days, could only say with certainty that the US
Democrat Party. may be on the verge of making the largest invest-
It will be hard for Biden to demand action ment in fighting climate change in human his-
from other major-economy climate laggards – tory – more than half a trillion dollars – notes
such as China and India – when he cannot trum- NBC News.
pet his success at home. At COP 26, developing A few days before the G20 summit, Biden’s
nations will also put pressure on rich economies White House had released a budget plan that
to help them financially transition to cleaner included $555bn in climate spending, such as A few days
energy. $300bn in tax credits for wind, solar and – con-
Nor did it help that the summit of G20 lead- troversially –nuclear. Biden had to drop the cen- before the G20
ers in Rome, ending on October 31, concluded trepiece of his plan, the aggressive Clean Energy
with only a vague and disappointing statement Performance Plan, because of opposition from summit, Biden’s
on climate. The leaders suggested “meaningful two swing Senate votes, including the pro-coal
and effective” action to stem global warming, Senator Joe Manchin. White House
and said that members’ national plans will be The focus of US climate action, as the Glas- had released a
tightened “if necessary.” gow talks get under way, is in Congress, where
The leaders also only promised to phase out Democrat infighting is continuing. It is Congress budget plan that
coal power “as soon as possible.” Biden was a key that makes law, not Biden, though the US presi-
attendee. dent can issue limited executive actions. included $555bn
The US president arrives on November 1 The US Senate is evenly divided with the
at the climate talks in Glasgow, which end on Republicans, and thus Democrat support for in climate
November 12. The talks are considered a water- climate legislation must be unanimous. spending.
shed in global response to the climate threat if “You have China and others questioning the
disastrous consequences are to be avoided. US’ ability to implement what it committed to
Trump, who left office in January, had taken and using that as a reason why they shouldn’t
the US out of the Paris Agreement – the 2015 be forced to do more than they’ve committed
international treaty on climate change – and to, because countries like the US talk a game
once called climate science a “Chinese hoax”. that they’re not delivering,” UN climate nego-
Biden re-entered the treaty on his first day in tiations expert Alden Meyer of think-tank E3G
office and in April called for a 50-52% reduction told NBC.™

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