President-elect Joe Biden introduced his energy and environment team on Saturday at an event that emphasized job-creation in low-carbon industries and racial justice, but provided no new policy specifics.
Why it matters: Biden has promised to make climate among his top priorities and his team is planning an approach that draws in agencies government-wide.
A recent novel illustrates the likely consequences of climate change in the decades to come, and offers hope that better technology and politics might help us save the future.
Why it matters: Perhaps no subject as important as climate change has also proven so difficult to effectively and accurately dramatize. "The Ministry for the Future" is the one novel I've read that captures the consequences of warming while offering a realistic blueprint for how we can stop it.
Global coal demand is slated to rise by 2.6% next year after 2020's steep pandemic-fueled decline, the International Energy Agency said in a report Friday.
Why it matters: Coal is the most carbon-intensive fuel, so its trajectory means a lot for global efforts to fight global warming.
The last big names of nominees for Joe Biden's energy and environment team have arrived: Rep. Deb Haaland is the pick for Interior secretary, North Carolina environmental regulator Michael Regan is up for EPA, and Brenda Mallory's the choice to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
The big picture: They're first-of-a-kind picks. Haaland is the first Native American person tapped to run a cabinet agency, while Regan would be the first Black man to lead EPA, and Mallory would be the first Black person to head CEQ.
Historically, America has emitted the most greenhouse gases of any country in the world. But over the next 80 years, the U.S. may account for as little as 5% of such emissions.
Why it matters: Installing technologies to address climate change will, therefore, be most critical in places other than America where emissions’ growth is expected to be higher, according to physicist Varun Sivaram.
President-elect Joe Biden has selected veteran environmental lawyer Brenda Mallory to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), his transition team announced Thursday.
Why it matters: If confirmed, Mallory would have Biden’s ear as an environmental policy adviser and oversee policy coordination across the federal government. She would also be the first African American to serve in the position.
