Biden’s climate balancing act

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Mar 28, 2024 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell President Joe Biden delivers remarks during a campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday. | Stephanie Scarbrough/AP On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden made bold promises to slash the nation’s planet-warming pollution. But after four years in office, many of his administration’s final regulations are weaker than the initial proposals, writes Jean Chemnick and Benjamin Storrow. This month, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final climate rule for cars and trucks that allows automakers more time and flexibility to curb their carbon emissions than in the original proposal. The agency’s rule to limit power plant pollution will also ultimately exclude existing natural gas plants — which account for nearly half the power sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. The trend reflects Biden’s delicate balancing act in an election year. Push too hard and he risks having his policies struck down by a conservative Supreme Court looking to reign in executive power. But don’t push hard enough, and Biden could anger younger voters while failing to meet national and international climate commitments. “I think everyone is pushing toward a common goal of being as forward-leaning as possible without going over the cliff,” Stan Meiburg, a veteran EPA official who served as its acting deputy administrator under former President Barack Obama, told Jean and Ben. Softening or altogether withdrawing rules during an election year is nothing new. But the climate spotlight on Biden is especially bright given his ambitious pledges. Biden entered the White House promising to slash climate pollution in half by 2030 from 2005 levels, achieve 100 percent clean power five years later, and reach net-zero emissions economywide by midcentury. White House officials say despite the regulatory changes, the rules will still deliver. “The president continues to accelerate the pace of taking on the climate crisis,” White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi said. “That’s the playbook he’s been executing from day one, whether you cover it that way or not, and he continues to execute it right now today.” Some climate advocates expressed frustration that EPA seemed to acquiesce to demands from polluting industries, which have spent millions of dollars on lobbying. But others say a rule is only as good as its staying power. And the sweet spot is often developing rules that push an industry forward, while not overreaching and outpacing public expectations of what is possible, Meiburg said.   It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net. And folks, let's keep it classy.   Access New York bill updates and Congressional activity in areas that matter to you, and use our exclusive insights to see what’s on the Albany agenda. Learn more.     Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Josh Siegel breaks down the latest in Congressional negotiations to secure an energy infrastructure permitting deal and the challenges that remain. Power Centers Gas flaring on public lands in North Dakota. | Matthew Brown/AP Will Biden's methane rule survive? Oil and natural gas groups are plotting their attack on the Biden administration's new rule to curb methane pollution on public lands, writes Heather Richards. The policy would require oil companies to pay royalties on “wasted” methane and caps the amount of gas they can release. The rule could also reduce drilling activities for companies that cannot prove they can minimize methane, which has about 80 times the heat-trapping capability of carbon dioxide over a 20 year period. China's unwitting aid to Houthi rebels China’s illicit purchases of Iranian oil are indirectly financing a recent string of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, writes Matthew Karnitschnig. China buys about 90 percent of Iran’s oil, including crude oil sold by the paramilitary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that oversees Tehran’s foreign military operations. The group, Quds Force, trains and funds Iran’s terror proxies across the Middle East, for example, including both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthi rebels. In Other News 'Loop of irony': A Louisiana energy company wants to build a $441 million floating natural gas power plant as the land around it sinks into the rising tides. Something to wine about: A new study found that climate change endangers 70 percent of the world’s wine regions.   SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.     Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at the White House on Wednesday. | Evan Vucci/AP A federal judge in Texas has wiped out a Biden administration rule that required state and local transportation officials to set greenhouse gas emissions targets for federally funded highway and road projects. The ship collision in Baltimore did not spill fuel or other other hazardous materials into the Chesapeake Bay, EPA said Thursday. A New Hampshire utility has announced the closure of New England's last remaining coal plant, stirring up a debate about whether fossil fuels are needed to stabilize the region’s grid. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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