President Joe Biden signed multiple executive actions today meant to address the issue of climate change, which he repeatedly referred to as a “crisis.” While Biden stopped short of declaring a “climate emergency” as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and others have suggested, Biden did usurp broad powers meant to make the executive branch the undisputed authority on the issue of climate change in the United States.
Biden proclaimed it “climate day” at the White House, signing three separate executive orders meant to deal with climate change, which the president called an “existential threat.” Biden signed the Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government Through Scientific Integrity and Evidence Based Policy Making, an Executive Order on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and an Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
“Today is climate day at the White House, and which means today is jobs day at the White House. We’re talking about American innovation, American products, American labor,” the president began. “We’re talking about the health of our families and cleaner water, cleaner air and cleaner communities. We’re talking about national security.”
The Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government Through Scientific Integrity would give mathematician Eric Lander, Biden’s choice to head the Office of Science and Technology, the power and responsibility to convene an inter-agency task force that would will allegedly prevent “improper political interference in the conduct of scientific research and the collection of scientific or technological data; prevent the suppression or distortion of scientific or technological findings, data, information, conclusions or technical results; support scientists and researchers of all genders, races, ethnicities and backgrounds; and advance the equitable delivery of the Federal Government’s programs.”
Of course, “improper political interference” is likely in the eye of the beholder.
The Executive Order on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology establishes a new 26-person President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) co-chaired by Lander. The PCAST will be responsible for advising “the President on matters involving policy affecting science, technology and innovation, as well on matters involving scientific and technological information that is needed to inform public policy relating to the economy, worker empowerment, energy, education, the environment, public health, national and homeland security, racial equity and other topics.”
It seems that Biden is creating a scientific aristocracy that reports only to him and cannot be questioned on matters of science — especially climate science.
The last executive action, the Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, contains most of the substance of today’s announcements. With that order, Biden promises to put “the climate crisis at the center of United States Foreign Policy and National Security.” It gives the new climate envoy John Kerry the chore of elevating the issue of climate change and underscoring the administration’s commitment to addressing it. It codifies America’s commitment to meeting and exceeding its goals as stated in the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, which Biden has already recommitted to. In addition, this executive order promises a “government wide approach to the climate crisis.”
In addition, the Tackling the Climate Crisis order puts a halt on any new oil or natural gas leases on federal land and orders a “rigorous review” of any existing leases or permits related to fossil-fuel production.
Biden doubtless raised a few eyebrows among climate alarmists by claiming that his administration is “not going to ban fracking.” The president also promised to “protect jobs and grow jobs, including through much stronger standards like controls for methane leaks and union workers willing to install the changes.”
Biden continued his habit of banking on new technologies that don’t exist yet as a replacement for the existing electrical grid, touting technologies such as wind, solar, and carbon capture.
Failed presidential candidate and former Secretary of State John Kerry — Biden’s international “climate czar,” acknowledged that the United States alone cannot “fix” the climate. “Not when almost 90 percent of the planet’s global emissions come from outside of US borders. We could go to zero tomorrow, and the problem isn’t solved.”
Kerry claimed that the new executive orders ensure that “ambitious climate action is global in scope and scale, as well as national, here at home.”
Biden also announced a Climate Summit to be held on April 22 — Earth Day if you follow such holidays. Domestic climate czar Gina McCarthy further announced that the United States’ Nationally Determined Contribution — a determination of how much the country pledges to cut down on carbon emissions as required by the Paris Climate Accord — would be announced in advance of that event.
We all knew this was coming. We understood that the relative climate realism of the past four years would end quickly with a Democrat in the White House. The Climate Change circus is in town, and it’s not packing up its tents anytime soon.
