Three years ago—in the wake of wildfires tearing through 5,000 acres of Western America—President Joe Biden’s “Climate Day” heralded a seismic shift towards an eco-friendly America.
But this $2 trillion vision has since been obscured by an unsettling truth: America’s enduring addiction to fossil fuels is not just continuing under the president’s watch—it is flourishing.
Under Biden’s administration, the United States has reached record-breaking oil production levels, with fossil fuel jobs growing at a faster rate than those in renewable sectors.
Data shows the top five publicly traded oil companies—BP, Shell, Exxon, Chevron, and TotalEnergies—raked in profits of nearly $313 billion during Biden’s first three years as president, dwarfing the $112 billion the Big Five made during the same period under former President Donald Trump.
Larry French/Getty Images for Friends of the Earth
Biden also used his 2021 “Climate Day” to declare it was also “Jobs Day,” saying the shift to renewables would create “millions” of new roles and spark a rise in “American innovation, American products, American labor.”
Again, this has turned out to be an illusory claim.
Fossil fuel jobs have surged by 11.3 percent (80,000 roles) under Biden, far outpacing clean energy’s 8.8 percent growth in the job market.
This dirty fuels job boom has helped push U.S. oil production to an all-time high of 13 million barrels per day.
These devastating figures show Biden is not only guilty of policy slippage—but a profound betrayal of the urgent global need for climate action.
The stakes are monumentally high unless he rolls back and starts implementing the clean energy strategies he promised as the cost of fossil fuel production.
After all, the specter of another Donald Trump presidency looms large.
The former president’s “Drill, baby, drill” mantra when it comes to fossil fuels threatens to propel the U.S. and world further into the climate abyss, with potential consequences nothing short of catastrophic.
Analysis this month by Carbon Brief has also warned another Trump presidency would lead to an additional 4 billion tons of toxic emissions pumped out by the U.S. by 2030.
And we are living in a time when climate change denial among Americans stands at 15 percent of its population.
Instead of attacking these dangers head-on, Biden showed how empty his climate dream has become by failing to attend last year’s COP28 summit—a defining moment in the history of climate action and the inevitable shift to renewables.
A keystone of this shift was the historic UAE Consensus which included the first ever agreement—signed by 197 counties – to “transition away” from fossil fuels.
Since the summit, COP President Sultan Al Jaber has gone on to speak at the International Energy Association (IEA) and CERAWeek to call for the trillions of dollars needed to triple renewable capacity by 2030 and make the shift to renewables just and humanitarian—with a focus on creating clean-energy-driven “food systems, water security, nature and health”.
It is messages like this Biden must now be pushing—not diluting his climate policies in a bid to keep political progressives onside while appealing to swing state voters.
Such lapses in leadership are not merely yet more disappointing politicking; they represent missed opportunities to lead a just transition to renewable energy that is not only environmentally imperative but also economically beneficial and socially just.
Yet, there’s still hope.
Climate Action 100+, the largest investor initiative focused on climate change, argues more transparent disclosure of the costs and benefits of transitioning to clean energy will spur greater investment and interest from the oil sector in renewables.
This echoes calls made by Al Jaber at the IEA that “governments and all relevant parties [must] be honest and transparent about the costs and trade-offs involved.”
In Europe, more transparency has spelled more investment—and more money means a faster transition to the renewables the dying planet needs.
Biden’s administration stands at a crossroads—and the choice is stark: either continue to yield to the pressures of fossil fuel lobbyists and risk becoming a footnote in the tragic narrative of global warming, or lead with bold, transformative policies that might not only salvage his political legacy but more importantly, could steer the world away from impending ecological disaster.
To pivot away from fossil fuels, the Biden administration must do more than get Big Oil onboard with the shift to renewables. It must also start enforcing stringent regulations on drilling and emissions, invest heavily in renewable infrastructure, and provide incentives for industries to adopt green technologies.
These actions require not just political will but also a reinvigoration of the bold spirit that marked the early days of his presidency.
It’s now time for Biden to lead, decisively and courageously, against the existential threat of climate change.
If not, the history books may remember him not for what he attempted to achieve but for the catastrophic consequences of what he failed to accomplish.
Nathalie Beasnael is founder and CEO of Health4Peace, an NGO in the US delivering medical supplies across several African countries. She was a delegate at the United Nations’ annual climate summit, Cop28.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.