Facing Historic Crises
Clint Vince is Chair of Dentons’ US Energy Practice and Co-Chair of Dentons’ Global Energy Sector.
Andrew Shaw is Partner, Dentons Public Policy Practice.
During his speech at the Democratic National Convention, President-Elect Joe Biden listed climate change as one of the four historic crises facing the U.S., along with COVID-19, the economic downturn, and racial injustice.
Now that Biden has won the election, he will look to aggressively use executive authority to address climate change, while working to reach bipartisan agreement in Congress on various energy issues. Clearly, climate change will be the lens with which the Biden administration will view every energy policy.
Biden will likely employ a whole of government approach in pursuing his climate change objectives. On day one of his Presidency, Biden will rejoin the Paris Agreement. A Biden-led Environmental Protection Agency will likely move to repeal Trump-era deregulatory rules and promulgate new greenhouse gas regulations on the electricity, oil and gas, and transportation sectors.
Biden is expected to rescind many of President Trump's executive orders, while also issuing his own executive orders to advance his climate change policies. The Securities and Exchange Commission may issue new regulations requiring publicly traded companies to disclose risks related to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions in their operations. The Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture will also look to increase renewable energy development on federal lands and in rural areas, respectively.