President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday recommitted the United States to the Paris climate agreement, the international accord designed to avert catastrophic global warming, and ordered federal agencies to start reviewing and reinstating more than 100 environmental regulations that were weakened or rolled back by former President Donald J. Trump.
The moves represent a first step in healing one of the deepest rifts between the United States and the rest of the world after Mr. Trump defiantly rejected the Paris pact and seemed to relish his administration’s push to weaken or undo major domestic climate policies.
Mr. Biden has elevated tackling the climate crisis among his highest priorities. In addition to curbing global warming, he has vowed that ending the coronavirus pandemic, restoring the economy and addressing racial injustice will be the central causes of his administration.
“We’re going to combat climate change in a way we have not before,” Mr. Biden said in the Oval Office on Wednesday evening, just before signing the executive orders. Even so, he cautioned: “They 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.”
Foreign leaders hailed Mr. Biden’s first moves as a powerful signal that the United States, the largest contributor to global warming in history, intends to restart its efforts to lower pollution levels and to restore the international order upended by Mr. Trump. “Welcome back to the Paris Agreement!” Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, said in a Twitter message.
Under the Paris Agreement, nearly 200 nations have vowed to reduce planet warming emissions to avert the most disastrous consequences of climate change. A letter to the United Nations signed by Mr. Biden on Wednesday formally starts the 30-day process of bringing the United States back into the accord.
But analysts cautioned that Mr. Biden’s actions on day one must be quickly followed by a series of aggressive domestic climate policies to drastically lower the country’s emissions of planet-warming pollution from tailpipes, smokestacks and oil and gas wells.
Also on Wednesday, Mr. Biden rescinded the construction permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would have transported carbon-heavy oil from the Canadian oil sands to the Gulf Coast. Earlier in the day, TC Energy, a Canadian company, said that it was suspending work on the line.
Jon Ossoff defeated Republican David Perdue and Raphael Warnock won over GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler in Georgia, NBC News projects.
The twin wins for Democrats give the party control of the Senate, which will stand at 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, allowing incoming Vice President Kamala Harris to cast tie-breaking votes. The Georgia election results are a big boost for President-elect Joe Biden, who would have faced stiff opposition from Republicans had they retained the Senate.
The results are a rebuke of President Donald Trump, who held a rally for the GOP ticket in a conservative corner of the state Monday night. His ongoing attempts to overturn his loss in the November election overshadowed the runoffs and some Republicans worried his attacks on the integrity of the election would depress GOP turnout.
Online calls for a boycott of Sainsbury’s supermarket over its advert showing a Black family yearning to spend Christmas together have renewed a bitter debate over racism in Britain.
Some white social media users said they felt unrepresented by the television advert released this week - the first of three featuring different fictional families - while others spoke out to back the brand and condemn racism.
“Every single tv ad this evening is black … I’m going to take a stand & not buy from these companies until they *see me*,” posted one Twitter user, who used a British flag as her profile picture, in response to the advert.
I really hope the next two ads feature an Asian family and a Gàidhlig or Welsh speaking family (yes, they’re white but the language is sure to trigger some fragile English people). Since there are two more it’s more than likely that a white English family is featured in at least one of them.
Sec. of State Pompeo seems to deny the election results before going on to show confidence in a transition — without acknowledging Joe Biden as the president-elect
I agree. Something definitely isn’t right. We need to recount the votes, investigate fraud, and persue all legal actions. Only then should we accept Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, and Lindsay Graham as senators.
[Image description: tweet by Robert Reich @RBReich: “Georgians: If you turn 18 by January 5, 2021, you are eligible to vote in the run-off elections that will determine whether we take control of the Senate from Mitch McConnell. You have until December 7 to register to vote. Please tell your friends.”]
there is going to be an arguably even more important election than the presidency happening on january 5th in georgia. the two senate seats in their state did not reach enough of a majority in this election to decide a winner, so theyre doing a “run-off election”.
if these two seats are won by democrats they will flip the senate to a MAJORITY for democrats. we will have the presidency, the house AND the senate if the democratic candidates in georgia win. the policies biden promised could have a better chance at being passed!
if you live in georgia PLEASE vote for the democratic senate candidates on january 5th
if you do not, i recommend donating to the candidates election fund! :)
Wouldn’t it be wonderful scene if two sets of protesters show up. One with “stop the count” signs the other with “count those votes.” Get into a fight and realize they’re all trumpers. Maybe a third group with “I’m just here for the free donuts.”
