Joe Biden admin marks Earth Day with major environmental initiatives

President Joe Biden’s administration is marking Earth Day by announcing several major environmental initiatives.

“President Biden laid out the most ambitious land and water conservation agenda in American history,” Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said on a conference call with reporters Friday. “And he is delivering, already cementing a legacy as one of the nation’s strongest conservation presidents.

“He is standing up to protect places that are simply too special to develop. He is safeguarding lands and waters that are sacred to Tribal nations. And he is making sure that we are passing cleaner water, healthier lands, abundant wildlife, and more recreation opportunities along to the generations that follow us.”

Last week, the Department of the Interior published a final rule to maximize protections of irreplaceable wildlife habitat on more than 13 million acres in the western Arctic area of Alaska while supporting subsistence uses and needs of Alaska Native communities.

“These special areas, including lands in and around Teshekpuk Lake and Colville River, are a rugged and wild landscape that provides undisturbed habitat for wildlife, including grizzly and polar bears, caribou, and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds,” Mallory said.

Other actions by the administration included recommending against the granting of right of way for an industrial road through pristine areas in north-central Alaska; expansion of wildlife refuges in New Mexico, North Carolina, and Texas; and finalizing a rule “to help guide the balanced management of nearly 250 million acres of America’s public lands, putting conservation and restoration on equal footing with other uses,” she noted.

Monday, the administration announced that the Solar for All program, designed to expand the availability of clean energy, especially to low- and moderate-income households, had chosen 60 grant recipients. The grants include 49 to states, totaling $5.5 billion; six to tribal governments, totaling more than $500 million; and five multistate awards totaling approximately $1 billion. The funding comes through the Inflation Reduction Act.

The multistate awards in particular will focus on low-income communities, Janet McCabe, deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on the conference call. Also, many of the 60 grantees have already started programs that are bringing clean, affordable solar energy to low-income communities, she said. The grants, for installation of solar panels and other measures, are expected to help households save billions of dollars on electricity bills, McCabe said.

The administration’s American Climate Corps, modeled on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, launched a new website for Earth Day, ACC.gov, offering information about careers in clean energy and other efforts to fight climate change and conserve national resources. Another new website, Conservation.gov, provides information on ways to support land and water conservation, including guidance on outdoor recreation areas, opportunities to volunteer on public lands, and a financial assistance tool to access grant opportunities.

Biden, other administration officials, and members of Congress spoke about the Solar for All grants and other actions at Prince William Forest Park in northern Virginia, a site developed by FDR’s administration.

“It’s a big deal,” he said of Solar for All. “This new Solar for All program means that 900,000 households will have solar on the rooftops for the first time, and soon.” It will cut 5 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually and will create 200,000 well-paying union jobs, he added.

Combating climate change is not only about health and safety but about job creation, Biden added. The American Climate Corps will put thousands of Americans to work in clean energy, he said. It’s starting with recruiting for more than 2,000 positions in 36 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., he noted.

He also recapped actions his administration has taken to assure clean air and water across the nation, and he pointed out that there are still climate change deniers, especially “MAGA Republicans.”

“They want to take us backwards,” he said. But he is “absolutely determined that we move forward.” He echoed Roosevelt in calling environmental protection a moral imperative.

“I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future,” Biden concluded. “We just have to remember who we are. We’re the United States of America, and there’s nothing, nothing beyond our capacity.”

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