These first few weeks of the new year have brought some ups and downs not many would have expected. Just two weeks after a day of unrest that left much of the nation speechless, the country united to watch Joseph R. Biden Jr. be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States.
Just hours after being sworn in, President Biden set to work signing a number of executive orders. One of the most notable was the letter to rejoin the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, allowing the U.S. to officially become a party to the agreement again in 30 days. This move reverses former President Trump’s withdrawal from the coalition in 2019.
Peter Exley, FAIA, president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), said, “We are deeply encouraged by this Administration’s swift and decisive action on climate change. Re-establishing the United States’ commitment to the Paris climate accord sends a strong message to our nation and the world that we will pursue meaningful changes that can save our planet. As architects, we stand ready to play a significant role in achieving climate goals for the built environment and to working with the Administration and Congress toward that end.”
The move to rejoin the Paris climate accord, as well as the reversals of many of the former administration’s environmental policies, including reversing rollbacks to vehicle emissions standards, revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, enforcing a temporary moratorium on oil and natural gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as well as reestablishing a working group on the social costs of greenhouse gasses show the current administration’s desire to address the climate crisis.
As we head further into the new year and the new administration, I’m sure we’ll be hearing of a number of changes to come, although as of now, there has been no updates on whether President Biden plans on changing the recent executive order on “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture.”
