On the Congressional side, a handful of Democratic members of the House have introduced legislation to end 11 of what they call the most “egregious” fossil fuel subsidies in the U.S. But that order did not come with a deadline, and so far the Biden administration hasn’t issued any updates on its progress. In an executive order on January 27, the president told the federal government to identify “any fossil fuel subsidies provided by their respective agencies” and then take steps to stop directly subsidizing fossil fuels.
Money that’s shelled out to Big Oil via the tax code will have to be cut off by Congress. Here's Howīut fossil fuel subsidies are tricky to root out - they are spread out across the entire government, and the president can only directly control subsidies that come from federal agencies, like the Department of Justice or the Department of Energy. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Biden has repeatedly promised to end that financial support, saying, “I don’t think the federal government should give handouts to Big Oil.” government pours about $20 billion a year into tax breaks, subsidies, and direct support for coal, oil, and gas. In response to a question about the government’s stance on the Line 3 pipeline, another Canadian tar sands project that Indigenous and climate activists are begging Biden to shut down, Granholm said she believed it was “under review,” adding that she thought there was “great sensitivity to the Indigenous peoples who will be affected by it.” Ending subsidies for fossil fuelsĪccording to estimates from Oil Change International and the bipartisan Environmental and Energy Study Institute, the U.S. The only hint that the administration might have more of a fight in store for pipeline operators came from an interview with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm during a recent CNN town hall. “They actually had a very clear opportunity to take action and did not,” said Collin Rees, a senior campaigner for Oil Change International. But an attorney from the Department of Justice declined to do so, telling a federal judge that the Army Corps of Engineers is still gathering information. climate leadership” and also pointed to the “urgency for combating climate change.”Īt a hearing earlier this month, the Biden administration had an opportunity to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, since the companies overseeing the project are operating without a federal permit. In an executive order signed on day one of his presidency, Biden wrote that an Obama-era review of the project concluded the pipeline “would undermine U.S. On pipelines, Biden came out swinging by revoking a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have transported oil from Canada’s tar sands to Nebraska. But has the president followed through on his plans to “ hold polluters accountable” at home? Let’s take a look at Biden’s record on four major ways the federal government can cut down on fossil fuels. emissions by 50 percent by 2030, and laid out plans for a $2 trillion infrastructure bill that is actually ( quietly) a climate bill. Now, 100 days into his presidency, Biden has accomplished many of his climate promises - he has rejoined the Paris Agreement, hosted a world summit on climate change, announced a new goal of lowering U.S. (The Democratic candidate later claimed he was talking only about transitioning away from fossil fuel subsidies.) Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, tweeted that Biden’s promise amounted to a “transition away from Texas” Trump himself argued that Biden would “destroy the oil industry.” It was a sharp rebuke of the oil, gas, and coal sector, and one that did not go unnoticed by Biden’s political rivals.
“It has to be replaced by renewable energy over time.”
“I would transition from the oil industry,” Biden said, in response to a pointed question from then-President Donald Trump. During the final debate of the 2020 election, President Joe Biden did something unheard of for a major presidential candidate: He vowed to end the use of fossil fuels.