On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden made bold promises to slash the nation’s planet-warming pollution. But after four years in office, many of his administration’s final regulations are weaker than the initial proposals, writes Jean Chemnick and Benjamin Storrow. This month, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final climate rule for cars and trucks that allows automakers more time and flexibility to curb their carbon emissions than in the original proposal. The agency’s rule to limit power plant pollution will also ultimately exclude existing natural gas plants — which account for nearly half the power sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. The trend reflects Biden’s delicate balancing act in an election year. Push too hard and he risks having his policies struck down by a conservative Supreme Court looking to reign in executive power. But don’t push hard enough, and Biden could anger younger voters while failing to meet national and international climate commitments. “I think everyone is pushing toward a common goal of being as forward-leaning as possible without going over the cliff,” Stan Meiburg, a veteran EPA official who served as its acting deputy administrator under former President Barack Obama, told Jean and Ben. Softening or altogether withdrawing rules during an election year is nothing new. But the climate spotlight on Biden is especially bright given his ambitious pledges. Biden entered the White House promising to slash climate pollution in half by 2030 from 2005 levels, achieve 100 percent clean power five years later, and reach net-zero emissions economywide by midcentury. White House officials say despite the regulatory changes, the rules will still deliver. “The president continues to accelerate the pace of taking on the climate crisis,” White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi said. “That’s the playbook he’s been executing from day one, whether you cover it that way or not, and he continues to execute it right now today.” Some climate advocates expressed frustration that EPA seemed to acquiesce to demands from polluting industries, which have spent millions of dollars on lobbying. But others say a rule is only as good as its staying power. And the sweet spot is often developing rules that push an industry forward, while not overreaching and outpacing public expectations of what is possible, Meiburg said.
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