WASHINGTON – This Friday marks 100 days of the Biden administration. Today, as President Biden prepares to address both houses of Congress for the first time since taking office, Greenpeace USA is releasing an updated progress report for Biden’s climate and environmental policy as president. We’ve awarded Biden 30 out of a possible 100 points for the early steps he’s taken to address the climate crisis.
- Biden receives 12 out of a possible 50 points for policies to phase out fossil fuels. He receives credit for stopping Keystone XL, pausing oil and gas leasing on public lands, and launching new environmental justice initiatives. Through the rest of his term, he can improve this score by eliminating all fossil fuel subsidies, stopping oil and gas exports, canceling infrastructure projects like the Line 3 and Dakota Access pipelines, and releasing a plan for the comprehensive phaseout of fossil fuel production.
- He also receives 18 out of a possible 50 points for Green New Deal-style investments in workers and communities. He receives credit for re-committing to 100 percent clean power by 2035, rejoining the Paris agreement, and assembling a strong team of environmental justice advisors. Through the rest of his term, he can improve this score by publicly supporting the THRIVE Act and decoupling his emission-reduction efforts from false solutions like carbon capture and biomass.
View the full progress report and a detailed scoring breakdown here.
Greenpeace USA Climate Campaigner Charlie Jiang said:
“President Biden has taken bolder steps to tackle the climate crisis than any president in history. Still, he has not yet done enough. The bar for action is not set by what pundits deem possible nor the records of past administrations — it’s set by science and justice. Science demands we rapidly phase out fossil fuel extraction and transition to 100 percent renewable energy. Justice demands we invest in the communities who have borne the brunt of pollution and the workers who depend on the fossil fuel economy. The stakes are too high to fight for anything less.
“There is still time for President Biden to become the climate leader that our country — and the world — desperately needs. Phasing out fossil fuel production and holding polluting corporations accountable present Biden’s best chance to advance climate, racial, and economic justice all at once.”
During the 2020 general election, Greenpeace USA awarded then-candidate Biden 75.5 out of 100 points for his climate platform. Using the same grading criteria, his lower score at the 100 days mark signals the urgent need to begin turning promises into policy. Earlier this month, Greenpeace USA, the Movement for Black Lives, and the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy released a report detailing how every phase of fossil fuel production — extraction, transport, refining, and production — disproportionately pollutes Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities. Despite the overwhelming evidence of fossil fuels’ contributions to the climate crisis and racial injustice, President Biden did not signal any intention to wind down existing fossil fuel production during the first 100 days of his administration.
