TRACKING PRESIDENT BIDEN
"If I have the honor of being elected president, we’re not just going to tinker around the edges … We’re going to lock in progress that no future president can roll back or undercut to take us backwards again.”
CAMPAIGN PROMISES TRACKER
President Joe Biden made 25 environmental campaign promises while running for office in 2020.
So far, he has completed 9 of those promises.
This tracker is updated to reflect every time Joe Biden follows through on his promise to “lock in progress that no future president can roll back.”
| Campaign Promise | Status |
|---|---|
| Ban new oil and gas leasing on federal lands ⓘ | FAILED |
| Revoke fossil fuel subsidies ⓘ | FAILED |
| Require 100% carbon-free energy by 2035 ⓘ | FAILED |
| Revoke authorization for Keystone XL pipeline ⓘ | Completed |
| Protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drillingⓘ | FAILED |
| Rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change ⓘ | Completed |
| Require EPA to set stricter methane standards on oil and gas ⓘ | Partially Completed |
| Reestablish strong fuel economy standards for cars and trucks ⓘ | Partially Completed |
| End all financing for overseas coal projects ⓘ | Completed |
| Expand tax credits for renewable energy projects ⓘ | Completed |
| Require net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for all new buildings by 2030 ⓘ | Not Started |
| Transition all school buses and public sector vehicles to zero-emission vehicles ⓘ | Partially Completed |
| Protect Amazon Rainforest through a $20 billion conservation fund ⓘ | Not Started |
| Host a climate world summit within first 100 days ⓘ | Completed |
| Establish a climate division within the Department of Justice to hold polluters accountable ⓘ | Completed |
| Create Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool to identify communities disproportionately harmed by pollution ⓘ | Completed |
| Conserve 30% of America’s land and waters by 2030 ⓘ | Started |
| Require any federal permitting decision to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change ⓘ | Started |
| Install 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations ⓘ | Partially Completed |
| Promulgate stricter appliance and building efficiency standards ⓘ | Started |
| Expand solar and wind by 500 million solar panels and 60,000 wind turbines within 5 years ⓘ | Partially Completed |
| Issue Executive Order on environmental justice to protect frontline communities ⓘ | Completed |
| Reinstate federal flood protection standards ⓘ | Completed |
| Mandate disclosure of climate risks and greenhouse gas emissions by public companies ⓘ | Started |
| Ensure disadvantaged communities receive 40% of benefits from climate spending ⓘ | Started |
UNDOING TRUMP-ERA ENVIRONMENTAL ROLLBACKS
To date, the Biden administration has not taken definitive action to reverse the majority of environmental rollbacks that occurred during the previous administration
We reviewed 50 of the most impactful Trump rollbacks that continue to cause significant harm to wildlife, public lands, and undermine our ability to address pollution or stem the climate crisis.
So far, the Biden administration has fully reversed only 17 Trump-era rollbacks.
| Category | Trump Attacks on Environment | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Climate | Weakened EPA limits on methane emissions from oil and gas drilling operations | Reversed by Congress ⓘ |
| Climate | Weakened the cost-benefit analyses under Clean Air Act to make it harder to address GHG pollution | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Climate | Eliminated considerations of the “Social Cost of Carbon” in environmental reviews | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Climate | Weakened greenhouse gas standards for cars and SUVs | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Climate | Enacted do-nothing greenhouse gas standards for airplanes | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Climate | Curtailed categories of industrial polluters subject to GHG regulations. | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Climate | Approved continued operation of the Dakota Access Pipeline | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Climate | Approved the Willow Project to drill for and gas in the Alaska Petroleum Reserve | Reversed by the Courts ⓘ |
| Climate | Approved the Line 3 Pipeline in Minnesota | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Pesticides | Weakened protections for farmworkers under the Farmworker Protection Standard | Reversed by the Courts ⓘ |
| Pesticides | Rescinded proposed ban on neurotoxic pesticide Chlorpyrifos | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Pesticides | Weakened human health and safety standards for all pyrethroid pesticides | Not Started |
| Pesticides | Approved use of previously-banned pesticide Aldicarb in Florida | Reversed by the Courts ⓘ |
| Pesticides | Expanded the use of medical antibiotics on citrus agricultural crops | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Pesticides | Increased legal limit for Atrazine pollution in rivers and streams | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Pesticides | Weakened protections for endangered species from all pesticides | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Pesticides | Approved continued use of Dicamba pesticide for next five years | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Pesticides | Expanded the use of pesticides on National Wildlife Refuge lands | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Pollution | Weakened safeguards for major sources of hazardous air pollution | Not Started |
| Pollution | Gutted the limits for mercury air pollution from industrial facilities and power plants | Started ⓘ |
| Pollution | Exempted factory farms from pollution-reporting requirements | Not Started |
| Pollution | Restricted the EPA’s use of health data through the “Secret Science Rule” | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Pollution | Dismantled protections for wetlands nationwide under the Clean Water Act | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Pollution | Increased speed of slaughterhouse lines in meat production | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Pollution | Increased toxic discharges into lakes and rivers from power plants | Started ⓘ |
| Pollution | Curtailed when groundwater pollution is regulated under the Clean Water Act | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Public Lands | Eliminated methane pollution limits from oil and gas operations on BLM lands | Started ⓘ |
| Public Lands | Scrapped EPA efforts to prevent mining operations from becoming Superfund sites | Not Started |
| Public Lands | Dismantled Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Public Lands | Approved the Twin Metals mining proposal in Minnesota | Started ⓘ |
| Public Lands | Weakened the Tongass National Forest Roadless Rule | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Public Lands | Approved copper mine at Oak Flat sacred area on San Carlos Apache lands in Arizona | Started ⓘ |
| Public Lands | Approved Rosemont Copper mine in Santa Rita Mountains of Arizona | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Public Lands | Weakened all regulatory safeguards under the National Environmental Policy Act | Started ⓘ |
| Public Lands | Approved a new road easement through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Public Lands | Approved construction of a four-lane highway through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area | Not Started |
| Wildlife | Dismantled protections for all migratory birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Wildlife | Lifted restrictions on the import of elephant and lion hunting trophy | Started ⓘ |
| Wildlife | Expanded bear hunting in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge | Not Started |
| Wildlife | Rescinded the Endangered Species Act 4(d) Protections for “Threatened” species | Not Started |
| Wildlife | Weakened process for listing species and designating critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act | Not Started ⓘ |
| Wildlife | Weakened the interagency consultation process under the Endangered Species Act | Not Started |
| Wildlife | Prevented Fish and Wildlife Service from taking enforcement actions to protect endangered species | Not Started |
| Wildlife | Changed regulations to allow industry and states to veto critical habitat designations | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Wildlife | Eliminated fishing restrictions in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. | Reversed by Biden ⓘ |
| Wildlife | Reversed a ban on lead ammunition and fishing tackle on national wildlife refuges | Started ⓘ |
| Wildlife | Increased killing of bears and wolves inside National Preserves in Alaska | Started ⓘ |
| Wildlife | Ended federal protections for gray wolf nationwide | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
| Wildlife | Gutted habitat protections for greater sage grouse on national forest and BLM lands. | Started ⓘ |
| Wildlife | Delayed protections for the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act | Supporting Trump Position ⓘ |
SPECIES EXTINCT UNDER BIDEN'S WATCH
Source: About one species vanishes every hour. This is based on the common estimates that the background extinction rate is 1 species per million per year, that extinction is now happening at 1,000 times the background rate, and that there are 8 million species on Earth.
BARRELS OF OIL PRODUCED ON PUBLIC LAND UNDER BIDEN'S WATCH
Barrels have been produced on public lands since Jan. 20, 2021
Source: The US produces an estimated 29.35 barrels of oil per second on public land, according to data from the Department of the Interior [1].
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About the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund
We seek to strengthen our core environmental laws, support lawmakers from all political parties that believe in a healthier environment, and to hold accountable any politician regardless of party who does not.