Biden and Environmental Groups Try to Protect Climate Policies from Trump

Biden administration aides are racing to award hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and finalize environmental regulations in an effort to lock in President Biden’s climate agenda before Donald J. Trump enters the White House, said John Podesta, the president’s senior adviser on clean energy.

Mr. Podesta, who also serves as Mr. Biden’s top climate diplomat, departs Sunday for United Nations-led climate negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan. He said will try to reassure America’s allies that the clean energy transition is unstoppable and that U.S. emissions are poised to drop even with a president who denies the science of climate change.

”There’s no question that having someone leading the federal government who thinks climate change is a hoax is an impediment to accelerating action,” Mr. Podesta said. But because of investments already made, U.S. emissions are on a downward trajectory and the private sector is not backing away from renewable power, he said.

“This is not the end of our fight for a cleaner, safer planet,” he said. “The fight is bigger than one election or political cycle.”

Mr. Trump has said he wants to erase virtually all of Mr. Biden’s climate policies, which include rules intended to slash carbon emissions from power plants, automobiles and oil wells. He intends to make it easier to drill on public lands and in waters where Mr. Biden put up roadblocks. And he has called for repeal of Mr. Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.

The 2022 law provides at least $390 billion over 10 years in tax breaks, grants and subsidies for wind and solar power, electric vehicle battery production and other clean energy projects. Roughly 80 percent of the money spent in the first two years has flowed to Republican congressional districts, making a repeal politically challenging even if Republicans win complete control of Congress.