Prof. Aseem Prakash and colleague Prof. Nives Dolšak on Forbes web site asking whether a potential Biden administration would change the U.S. climate policy.
Climate change was a important issue in the 2019 Democratic primaries. Although Biden and Green New Dealers continue to differ on issues such as fracking, Democrats project the image of one big happy pro-climate family, united against a common foe. This has fed the expectation that the Biden Administration will transform U.S. climate policy. Trump turned the climate action switch off, but Biden will turn it back on. Biden’s pro-climate efforts will face many hurdles. Federal policy making is complex, with multiple institutional veto points. It isn’t easy to quickly change policies. Further, with a deeply polarized country, Biden probably recognizes that partisan climate action could generate a backlash.The 2022 midterm elections are due in 2 years; Biden will probably not want history to repeat itself.