Megaphonese Greta Thunberg Backs Climate & Ocean Health and Fords People's Rights

In May, the U.S. president passed Bill Clinton's climate change bill, which commits the country to drastically reducing its fossil fuel use and use of clean technologies by 2045.

While the U.S. president may not commit to doing what will save the planet, its influence over the environment has become the new focal point. This week, after a successful day in the White House, her administration announced that it has committed to a national goal of reducing global emissions by about 7 percent by the end of the decade.

Along with taking a strong stance in the right direction, President Biden said that the U.S. is in a global lead with renewable energy and its future as a civilization and should not be limited by fossil fuel use. He said that "fossil fuel use will account for nearly half of the world's energy use and nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions."

In a move proponents had called a lack of commitment to sustainable and social solutions, he called for “creat[ing] a fair share of new jobs created by environmental change.” This is a big statement, too, given the United States’s reliance on fossil fuels for our economy. The U.S. has lagging behind countries like India and the Netherlands, both of which are committed to producing 100 percent renewable energy sources by 2020.

Still, said Maria Torres, head of Greenpeace International, the administration has a long way to go to meet its Paris Agreement targets. “There is still time to improve on the global climate commitments, but they won’t be enough long to protect the most vulnerable people in the earth,” she said.

As someone who has worked in the Indian state for generations, it’s heartening to see her administration commit to cutting the country’s dependence on dirty fossil fuel use, which she described as “a political orphan, and a blowout to the climate crisis.”

In its report, the U.S. Department of the Environment, the Office of Labor and the Secretary of State and Energy in the Executive Office tasked with securing a net-zero carbon economy by the end of the decade and not compromising on oil and gas infrastructure, said Torres. “This is a landmark moment in the history of climate action, and that’s why we need to see more action.”

As the Biden administration commits to clean energy sources, the U.S. will have to significantly reduce its dependence on fossil fuel use. It will also be the first country in the world to invest in renewable energy and use technologies that are either already in development or in the planning stages.

“This is a transformational moment for the U.S.,” said Environment Secretary Ed Bernhardt. “This is a landmark moment in the history of the U.S.. and the world.”