Lamont hails Biden’s climate change policy
Praises new president’s ‘respect for science’ after first-day move to rejoin Paris Agreement
HARTFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont is hailing President Joe Biden over his first-day move to combat climate change.
In a reversal of policies of former President Donald Trump, Biden ordered that the United States will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change. The moves were made within hours of Biden’s swearing-in on Wednesday as the 46th president.
“The executive actions signed by President Biden today with respect to the environment, namely rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change and directing federal departments and agencies to immediately review the rolledback environmental regulations over the last four years, demonstrate the Biden administration’s respect for science and understanding that the climate crisis is an urgent threat,” Lamont said, in a statement. “These actions are symbolic and consequential first steps toward returning the United States to a role it never should have abdicated in the first place — leading the world in environmental protection and the fight against climate change, a fight Connecticut is already in and will continue to lead.”
In making the one-sentence order that he signed in the Oval Office, Biden wrote, “I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the Paris Agreement, done at Paris on December 12, 2015, do hereby accept the said Agreement and every article and clause thereof on behalf of the United
States of America.’’
Connecticut’s environmental commissioner, Katie Dykes, said the moves “send an incredibly important message to the world, as well as to the many states, like Connecticut,” in the ongoing battle against climate change.
“The Biden administration’s actions — rejoining the Paris Agreement, reversing many of the previous administration’s rolledback regulations that are counter to science and the best interests of public and environmental health, and directing agencies to consider revising fuel economy and emissions standards — signal the importance that science, public health, and a clean energy economy will have in rebuilding our country,” Dykes said, in a statement. “They complement the efforts we’ve undertaken here in Connecticut, be it the work of the Governor’s Council on Climate Change, de-carbonizing our electric grid, and supporting implementation of the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program.”
Biden ordered all executive agencies in the federal government to review regulations related to the environment over the past four years and take action, if necessary. The agencies will also review standards for emissions and fuel economy, among others, in an effort to reduce pollution. The administration has also recreated the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases. The group had been created by President Barack Obama in 2009 but was disbanded in 2017 during the Trump administration.
In a transcript released to reporters by the White House, Biden said, “I’m proud of today’s executive actions, and I’m going to start by keeping the promises I made to the American people. A long way to go. These are just executive actions. They are important, but we’re going to need legislation for a lot of the things we’re going to do.’’
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, a Wolcott Democrat whorepresents the state’s 5th Congressional District, noted that Biden also issued an executive order that overturns the ban on travel to the United States from mostly Muslim-majority countries that had been enacted by Trump.
“Today President Biden made good on several of his campaign promises, chief among them to help American families — from rescinding xenophobic immigration policies to helping to protect the environment for generations to come,” Hayes said. “Two major issues prioritized by my constituents in Connecticut’s Fifth are immigration and the environment — and that is exactly what some of President Biden’s first actions aim to tackle, ending uncertainty and anxiety for many.’’