11 Ways the Biden Administration Could Reduce Emissions From the Food System
As the president’s April 22 climate summit draws near, the federal action plan should focus on the enormous opportunities for emissions reductions in the food system.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris enter office with a long list of substantial challenges to tackle. Working together with Congress, they will need to pull the country out of the worst pandemic in a century. They will need to get the economy back up and running, take bold moves to limit climate change and environmental destruction, and work hard to begin correcting hundreds of years of racial injustice and inequality.
Scholars within the Earth Institute and the broader Columbia University community will be holding the administration accountable to these promises. The articles and opinion pieces below range in scope from suggesting top priorities and strategies for the administration, to evaluating plans and progress, and pointing out areas where there’s room for improvement. This work is crucial, as the successes and failures of the Biden presidency will impact the health of the American people and the planet for years and decades to come.
As the president’s April 22 climate summit draws near, the federal action plan should focus on the enormous opportunities for emissions reductions in the food system.
The presence of a competent national government capable of investment in the future will enable environmentally sustainable economic growth.
Following four years of Trump’s climate denial, the Biden administration has gone all in and is starting to articulate a comprehensive climate policy.
The next four years should undo the damage of the past four years and put America back on the path of effective environmental policy.
Our human need for social interaction will influence our calculus and my hope is that when normal life resumes, we never again take it for granted.
How federal agencies can and will incorporate environmental justice into their operations.
Throwing out the changes could make the new administration’s climate initiatives harder to implement.
Over 70% of the American public favors Biden’s stimulus plan and I suspect a similar number will support an infrastructure bill that will rebuild our roads and restore employment.
We should be able to find it in our hearts to help children, dreamers and refugees, and our new president gives me hope we can do just that.
What progress has been made and what could change with the U.S.’s reentry?