How Trump could slow Biden’s climate agenda

Noted Donald Trump, loser of the presidential election struggles to grasp reality. After losing enormously in both the Electoral College and the popular vote, Trump refuses to concede, prosecute without merit, send bad tweets, and generally do their best to corrode democracy.

Trump’s regime has also followed suit, barring President-elect Joe Biden from accessing resources for the transition. The more than two-month transition always made it look like this was going to be a white-punch experience for the United States, but there is also a very real risk that the Trump crisis could delay Biden’s efforts. to get to work on January 20, 2021. This is especially true of the climate, which Biden says will be animating force over the next four years.

The presidential transition is overseen by the General Service Administration, and this is where the biggest sticking point currently lies. The person appointed by the Trump administration in charge of the agency, Emily Murphy, has refused to sign on the reality that Biden won and the transition should begin. Without it, Biden’s transition team doesn’t have access to the $ 9.9 million set aside and other resources related to the creation of a new administration., including office space in federal agencies. It’s the most obvious roadblock between Trump leaving and Biden taking office.

“It’s not just money and office space, it’s really a problem if you can’t get into the agency to talk to people and briefing books,” said Andrew Rosenberg, Director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Biden will have to prepare a president’s budget fairly quickly. Trump will prepare his budget. These things are all problematic. “

Although Trump refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory, the president-elect has already set up transition teams to Arts and crafts plans and vet potential political appointments even without access to agency staff. But the Trump administration has other ways to slow Biden down or inflict damage to the environment. Even before the election, Trump continued his deregulation campaign that was the hallmark of his tenure. This includes opening up the Tongass National Forest to logging, which came into effect in late October.

Trump could very well pass more executive orders over the next two months, although many if not all are likely to be overturned by Biden once he takes office. But that will further reduce the time and resources that could have been put to good use by adopting new rules that will benefit the climate rather than harm it. James Pfiffner, professor emeritus of government at George Mason University, said in an email that a flurry of executive climate decrees along with the more than 75 others already signed by Trump in the past four years is unlikely jeopardize Biden’s long-term agenda. (Although, as your resident climatologist, I must stress that the climate crisis is a race against time to decarbonize everything.)

Another way for Trump to have a more meaningful impact is through staff, particularly by installing the wrong people in certain positions or firing others. On the betwithout reservation-people-in-place, the summit must be at the US Global Change Research Program, where David Legates has would have been appointed to lead it. The legates were brought to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just a few months ago and expressed ridiculously bizarre climatic views, including that more carbon dioxide leads to bigger crabs so everything will be fine.

Yet Legates is now able to shape a historical federal climate report and could select authors who could shape the report for the worse and whitewash denial talking points. He could also find other ways to erase the works. So even if a Biden administration is likely to wipe out Legates fairly quickly, its footprint could last.

“In the in the coming months he could be responsible for the national climate assessment and cause huge damage or slow things down ”. Rosenberg said legates.

Asset as well recently signed a decree facilitate the termination of federal employees. This, coupled with its ability to move people into less desirable positions, might make them want to leave. This could essentially hollow out government even more than it has already been in the past four years. The pandemic has shown what hollow government above a party not very interested in governing looks like. It’s horrible.

While Biden could potentially overcome these challenges and even attract those who are suspicious of government service by setting an aggressive and exciting climate agenda, there are still risks associated with Trump’s actions. They go way beyond Biden’s agenda and the climate as well.

“The main danger as this lasts is the confidence of the American people in the legitimacy of the election,” Pfiffner said. “Trump is attempting to seriously undermine American policy by his irresponsible actions.”