On his first day in office, President Biden began the process of rejoining the Paris Agreement.

But, as expected, that was just the start of this administration’s push for environmentally friendly policies aimed at halting the progress of global warming.

Last week, President Biden signed a comprehensive executive order laying out a government-wide approach to tackling climate change. You can read the whopping 7,500-word order, or just peruse the CliffsNotes version below.

Giving Agencies, Well, Agency

The order directs all federal government agencies to make reducing climate change a priority. It establishes a new National Climate Task Force, which will bring together leaders at 21 agencies and departments to foster a government-wide approach to climate policy.  

While the DOT, HUD, and other agencies will be working toward green initiatives, the focus for the Biden administration is on foreign policy and national security. 

The EO directs intelligence agencies to assess the risks posed by global warming around the world. “It means infusing the issue of climate and environment into our trade policies, our foreign aid programs, our bilateral discussions, and even our military readiness,” said Meghan O’Sullivan, who leads the Geopolitics of Energy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School.

The EO posits that coordinating and prioritizing environmental efforts will result in:

“...opportunities to create well-paying union jobs to build a modern and sustainable infrastructure, deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050.”

Beyond a general guidance to prioritize climate change reduction, there are two pieces of the order spurring lots of conversation: 

• A freeze on issuance of new oil and gas leases on public lands and waters

• Clean and zero-emission vehicles for government fleets

Freeze Frame

Arguably the most controversial portion of the EO is the freeze on new leases for oil and gas activities on public lands and waters. Tangentially, the order calls for increasing renewable energy production on those same lands and waters.

According to Ben Geman at Axios, “The leasing freeze won't have an immediate effect on production. Plus, multiple companies with public lands exposure have stockpiles of drilling permits.”

Drilling activity won’t come to a sudden halt, and the order is unlikely to affect existing leases. Also, this action doesn’t go as far as what Biden laid out in his campaign plan, which called for outright banning permitting on public lands and waters.

Oil industry groups have been aggressively pushing back against the freeze, arguing it will cost jobs and increase reliance on imported oil.

American Petroleum Institute (API) President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Sommers said, “With this move, the administration is leading us toward more reliance on foreign energy from countries with lower environmental standards and risks hundreds of thousands of jobs.” 

Environmental groups, on the other hand, celebrated the move. “Human activity got us to this heartbreaking point, and we’re grateful the Biden administration will address this global crisis by working to protect 30% of the nation’s lands and oceans by 2030,” Kierán Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

Electric Slides In

Another largely discussed initiative of Biden’s order is his plan to replace the government’s fleet of 650,000 cars and trucks with electric vehicles (EVs) assembled in the U.S. by union workers.

The details are still being worked out, but the plan is seen as a huge win for automakers’ electric vehicle investments over the last few years. It also means bigger investments moving forward: Ford has said it will spend $11 billion introducing new EVs, and GM pledged to stop making gasoline-powered passenger cars, vans and sport utility vehicles by 2035. 

Economists analyzing the plan point out a few barriers. Namely that, as of now, not a single model fits his criteria: battery-powered, made in America, by union workers. The vehicles Biden wants are still several years away and would require an overhaul of automakers' manufacturing strategies.

The job estimates provided by the administration—that 1 million new auto manufacturing jobs will be created—are also raising doubts. David Popp, an economist at Syracuse University, said, “He’s basically saying he’s going to double auto manufacturing. I find that hard to believe.” 

Most signs point to the move to electric vehicles to take longer than Biden’s 4-year term.

Hit What Target?

The executive order didn’t set specific emissions targets. Experts say the U.S. needs to set a target to reduce its own emissions by 50%-70% of 2005 levels by 2030, and then put domestic policies in place to achieve them.

White House officials expect the new emissions reductions targets to be announced before the U.S. hosts its global climate summit on Earth Day, April 22, 2021.