United States Officially Rejoins Paris Agreement

Brazos (Green Mountain) Wind Farm, Fluvanna, Texas (Wikimedia Commons).

President Joe Biden issued a statement on January 20 accepting the terms of the Paris Agreement on behalf of the United States. February 19 marked the official return of the United States to the first global commitment to combat climate change and the end of the thirty-day reentry process and 

The Biden-Harris ticket campaigned on reentering the Paris Accords, from which former President Donald Trump officially pulled US membership on November 4 of last year. Biden has also laid out several other ambitious climate goals for his administration, including achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, investing in clean energy technologies, and protecting workers in industries (like coal) that will be phased out in favor of renewable energy sources. 

Rejoining the agreement tasks the U.S. with drafting a carbon emissions reduction pledge by April 22, which may take the form of committing to reduce emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2030. On the same day, Biden plans to host an Earth Day Summit to reintroduce the United States as a global leader in the climate crisis. 

Recommitting to the Paris Agreement marks a sharp departure from the previous administration’s environmental policy. Trump rolled back more than one hundred environmental regulations over the past four years, including those concerning pollution, drilling, and habitat protection for endangered species. The Biden Administration is expected to reinstate many of these regulations. 

The news from the White House arrives as millions of Texas residents have lost power amid an unprecedented wave of cold and snow. The failure of the state’s energy infrastructure has elevated questions about the future of green energy policy to the national stage. 

Some politicians were quick to blame renewable energy sources, including wind turbines, for the failure. Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the Green New Deal “deadly” and stated that “fossil fuel is necessary for the state of Texas.” However, a Texas Tribune article refutes these claims, reporting that most power sources, particularly natural gas, had not been “winterized” and thus struggled to generate enough power for the state. 

While temperatures are heating up across the southern United States, the situation in Texas illuminates the domestic barriers the Biden Administration will face in its effort to meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement. Climate skepticism reigns much freer in the United States than in Canada and the European Union, creating credibility concerns about any pledges the U.S. might make to mitigate the climate crisis. 

However, unlike his predecessor, Biden has made climate a pillar of his administration’s transition agenda, and it is likely that the climate crisis will be a national priority for at least the next four years.