U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced America's return to the international Paris Agreement to fight climate change, the centerpiece of a raft of day-one executive orders aimed at restoring U.S. leadership in combating global warming.
Biden has promised to put the United States on a track to net-zero emissions by 2050 to match the steep and swift global cuts that scientists say are needed to avoid the most devastating impacts of global warming, using curbs on fossil fuels and massive investments in clean energy. While environmental advocates were thrilled by the orders, industry groups and conservatives criticized them.
Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris deal late last year, arguing it was too costly to the U.S. economy. Brian Deese, Biden’s director of the National Economic Council, told Reuters that the United States hopes to encourage other big emitters to also"push their ambition, even as we have to demonstrate our ability to come back on the stage and show leadership."