What will climate change policy look like under a Biden administration? If nothing else, it appears it will be broadly based across a wide range of executive branch operations. This week’s TipSheet walks you through the top 10 federal departments, agencies and spending centers and how they will pivot to focus on global warming.
"President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has selected Xavier Becerra, the Democratic attorney general of California, as his nominee for secretary of health and human services, tapping a former congressman who would be the first Latino to run the department as it battles the surging coronavirus pandemic."
"President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s environment and energy team — facing a narrowly divided Congress and a hostile Republican leadership — will need creativity and perseverance if Mr. Biden is to follow through on his ambitious promises to address climate change."
"EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement Wednesday that he has been exposed to Covid-19 and will quarantine until he's 'gone through the proper testing protocols.'"
"President-elect Joe Biden's short list of candidates to serve as his domestic climate adviser is beginning to narrow, with three names coming up the most, according to multiple sources."
"United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday that humanity is waging a suicidal war on nature and that there is no way to address the climate emergency without global leadership from the United States."
"Two nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) were confirmed to the panel by voice votes on Monday."
As the nation's hospitals are being overwhelmed by coronavirus patients, the federal data system for tracking them, poleaxed this summer by the Trump administration, is giving inaccurate and unreliable data to officials trying to manage the crisis.
Automakers are at the heart of the conflict over climate change policy, thanks to the prevalence of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. That may now be changing. And not just because of the incoming Biden administration, but also with shifting investment in the future of electric vehicles. A look at how car companies are piloting that path, from the latest Backgrounder. Electric Hummer, anyone?
"Top House Democrats are calling on congressional appropriators to block funding for President Trump's order that would make it easier to fire career employees like EPA scientists."
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