President Biden Issues Executive Order to Promote Clean Energy

The U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Dec. 8 directing the federal government to use its procurement power to achieve ambitious emissions reduction and clean energy goals. This action is expected to facilitate the development of at least 10 gigawatts of carbon-free electricity by 2030 and fast-track the nation’s capacity to supply zero-emission vehicles and electric vehicle batteries.

The U.S. Energy Department expressed support for the “whole-of-government” strategy, which builds on the agency’s climate action plan released earlier this year to adopt measures that will tackle the short- and long-term effects of climate change. The agency expressed its readiness to help the government rebuild the nation’s supply chains and create jobs through the use of U.S.-made products and cut pollution.

The Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan released in October reflects the department’s priorities to boost the use of carbon-free electricity, lead the progress to a zero-emission vehicle fleet, and expand clean energy options. President Biden is working to join forces to address the climate crisis and considers it important to be at the forefront of reducing environmental emissions especially in all federal operations. Therefore, activities such as the use of climate resilient technologies associated with adequate studies of climate vulnerabilities and mitigation are proposed.

The order aims to achieve the following five primary objectives:

• 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2030.
• 100 percent zero-emission vehicle purchases year 2035 including 100 percent light-duty vehicles by 2027.
• Net-zero emissions from federal procurement by 2050.
• Progressive emissions reduction from federal buildings to reach 50 percent reduction by 2032 and net-zero by 2045.
• Attain 65 percent emissions reduction from overall federal operations by 2030 to reach net-zero by 2050.