Biden's urgent moves on gas prices run counter to lofty climate goals
President Biden triumphantly took office by joining the
Paris Climate Accord. He created powerful new climate positions, including one for former
Secretary of State John F. Kerry. He reversed
Trump-era policies by revoking the permit for the
Keystone XL pipeline. And he declared the threat of climate change
"the number one problem facing humanity."
But in the past
few weeks, he has authorized a historically large release from the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve, renewed the sale of drilling leases on federal land, and announced that he is abandoning environmental restrictions allowing summer sales of ethanol-based gasoline. anathema to
climate activists.
