Biden administration officials touted the White House’s environmental goals ahead of Earth Day 2022, even as they make short-term moves designed to increase oil production and cut the price of gas.
President Joe Biden has a stated goal of cutting economywide emissions 50-52% by 2030 by reducing the use of fossil fuels and promoting green energy sources such as wind and solar. The president initially scuttled projects like the Keystone XL pipeline in pursuit of that goal but has resorted to countermeasures amid record-high fuel prices.
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“The United States is back on climate,” said a senior administration official. “We’re taking action to dramatically reduce our emissions and get other countries to step up.”
One of Biden’s top-line goals is to reduce emissions by half from 2005 levels by the end of this decade. Administration officials said the Biden administration is reaching that goal by cleaning up legacy pollution and establishing a clean power grid, setting records in solar and wind by creating enough energy from the sources to power 10 million homes last year. Another 2030 goal is to have half of all new vehicles sold running solely on electricity.
“Clean energy is the biggest job creator in America’s energy,” said a senior administration official, adding that more than 3 million people are now employed in clean energy.
A briefing call with reporters about White House Earth Day plans was conducted on background, meaning reporters could use information from the call but could not name whom it came from. Despite pushback from multiple media members asking for the call to be on the record, a senior administration official said it was “standard for what we’ve done in this administration” to hold press briefing calls on background.
A National Climate Task Force meeting is also scheduled for Monday, with other events to follow throughout the week touting how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will reduce pollution and create good jobs.
“The investments and tax credits will bring down the sticker price of electric vehicles, saving American families an average of $500 a year and advance clean energy,” said a senior administration official. “In the Biden-Harris administration, every day is earth day.”
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Nonetheless, the Biden administration has recently fought to save people money by reducing the price of gas rather than electric vehicles. Biden is releasing 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, has allowed 15% ethanol fuel to be sold this summer, and is calling on Congress to approve “use it or lose it” legislation to force oil and gas companies to drill on their federal land leases.
A reporter asked if the administration’s recent moves are in conflict with its long-term goals, to which a senior administration official responded that the demand curve for a single week or month “is going to be pretty inelastic.”
“We see multiple pathways in each sector, which means many pathways across the economy, to get to where we need to go to achieve 50 to 52% emissions reductions by 2030,” the official said. “And we’re going to do it.”
