{"id":172373,"date":"2021-02-26T11:31:45","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T16:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irpp-policy-options.local\/issues\/its-not-about-canada-biden-is-getting-real-about-fossil-fuels\/"},"modified":"2025-04-14T03:23:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T07:23:15","slug":"its-not-about-canada-biden-is-getting-real-about-fossil-fuels","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/potestlaunch.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/02\/its-not-about-canada-biden-is-getting-real-about-fossil-fuels\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not about Canada. Biden is getting real about fossil fuels"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Canada, so much attention was paid to Joe Biden\u2019s very first acts as U.S. president, especially the cancelling of the Keystone XL pipeline<\/a>. A big reason was the Canadian media framing this primarily as a Canada story rather than one about U.S. dependence on oil \u2013 or worse, an incoming president treating Canada poorly despite the importance of our economic and diplomatic relationship.<\/p>\n

Less attention was paid to Biden\u2019s subsequent moves<\/a>, though they have been much more consequential in terms of climate action. They reveal that none of this has ever been about one pipeline project or Canada. It is about the new U.S. administration getting real about reducing the production and use of fossil fuels given they are the primary source of climate change.<\/p>\n

For all Canada\u2019s shiny climate announcements, our country has never come close to incorporating climate action into the fabric of decision-making in this way. The breadth and ambition of the climate actions are astounding<\/a>. Biden\u2019s climate pledges have three major lessons for Canada:<\/p>\n

Big lesson #1: Put climate change at the centre of government decision-making<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Biden\u2019s executive orders, climate considerations will be \u201can essential element of U.S. foreign policy and national security.\u201d<\/a> A new climate envoy will sit on the National Security Council, one of the most important decision-making bodies in the U.S. government.<\/p>\n

The U.S. isn\u2019t just back in the Paris Agreement. The U.S. will also be pressing for greater ambition on climate change and its integration into a wide range of international agreements and conventions.<\/p>\n

Biden is also creating a whole new Office of Domestic Climate Policy in the White House, led by a national climate advisor, to co-ordinate and implement climate policies. Also, a National Climate Task Force will bring together leaders from all<\/em> 21 federal agencies to ensure a \u201cwhole-of-government approach to combatting the climate crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, the president is also directing federal agencies to use their buying power to expand the domestic market for zero-emitting electricity and zero-emitting vehicles. This is not small potatoes. U.S. government spending makes up 20 per cent of the U.S. economy, and this economic power is being used to accelerate the clean energy transition.<\/p>\n

These proposals aren\u2019t just vague instructions given to ministers. They involve the creation of a new institutional structure in government, and a fundamentally different framework for making decisions.<\/p>\n

Big Lesson #2: Cut fossil fuel production<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fossil fuels cause climate change, and so addressing the climate emergency requires cutting fossil fuel production. That is the undeniable fact that governments in Canada continue to deny. For example, the federal Liberal, Alberta Conservative, and B.C. NDP governments have all approved and subsidized oil and gas expansion while claiming to take climate action.<\/p>\n

But Biden tackles this fact head-on in numerous ways:<\/p>\n