Jarrett Renshaw, Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Joe Biden, a presidential candidate, made climate change a pillar in his campaign for the White House. He promised to make the U.S. more carbon-neutral, stop drilling on public lands and help the rest of the world move away from fossil fuels.

Biden was elected in 2012, more than one year after his election. But, he has since been forced to do so by rising inflation and the war in Europe. This led his administration to release record levels of strategic reserves and urge drillers and other workers to continue pumping harder to meet increasing demand.

The jarring shift in Biden’s energy policy priorities reflects the difficulties any U.S. administration might face in attempting a sweeping, decades-long reform of the country’s massive energy economy to curb global warming while simultaneously assisting geopolitical allies and keeping consumer prices in check.

Failing to achieve that balance could have big political consequences for Biden’s fellow Democrats in November’s mid-term elections: conservatives will blame the party if pump prices stay high, while progressives will punish it if it backslides on its climate promises.

“The reality is there has to be short-term costs for long-term gain and I’m not sure this administration is willing to pay the price,” said Ed Hirs, an energy economist at the University of Houston, referring to the political and financial costs of fighting climate change.

Jen Psaki from the White House, when asked this week if the president still believed the U.S. would reach its climate goals given the headwinds. Jen Psaki didn’t predict success. “We are continuing to pursue it, and we are going to continue to do everything we can to reach it,” Psaki said.

Biden, the country’s biggest oil consumer, had pledged on the campaign trail to make the United States carbon-free and to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050. These lofty goals were a goal he had set for himself during his first two years in office, even though his party held slim majorities in Congress.

In 2020, only 12% of America’s oil, coal and dependent energy consumption was made up by renewable energy, as opposed to over 20% for the European Union.

Biden’s multibillion-dollar climate change legislation has met resistance from Republicans and conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. Senate Democrats require the support from all 50 Senators plus Vice President Kamala Harris in order to pass the bill by a party-line vote called reconciliation.

“He can’t make good on his climate commitments without the reconciliation package,” said Jamal Raad, executive director of Evergreen Action, an advocacy group that helped craft some of the legislation.

His legacy and last chance at success are on the line. It is a crucial moment in our lives.

Build Back Better bill would have put $300 billion into tax credits to producers and buyers low carbon energy. The tax credits would be extended for renewable energy as well as new nuclear power tax exemptions. This would accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to electric vehicles. Manchin from West Virginia is a coal producer and opposes the bill as it would be too expensive. Republicans, however, have called it dangerous and costly for the economy.

The White House and Manchin have not shown any signs of moving closer to reaching an agreement over a large spending bill. Three sources close to the negotiations say that the sides don’t have an agreed timeline, and there are many details still not resolved.

TOURNING TO FOSSIL FUELS

Biden had also promised during his campaign to stop federal drilling auctions in order to aid the fight to climate change. But that endeavor has been stopped by a challenge from Republican-led countries.

The administration said late last Friday https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-resume-oil-gas-drilling-public-land-despite-biden-campaign-pledge-2022-04-15 before a holiday weekend that it was resuming public lands leasing, albeit on far fewer acres than initially proposed, after the court ordered it to do so.

Meanwhile, the administration has been forced to reckon with a potent mix of soaring global consumer energy demand after the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that has crimped global oil supplies.

Russia’s supply to international markets was severely curtailed by the Biden administration. These sanctions have pushed gasoline up to records at over $4.30 per gallon, and helped to increase inflation to its highest level in 40 years.

To keep pump prices under control, the White House is turning to fossil fuel industries. In order to reduce prices, the White House tapped national oil reserves, pleaded with domestic drillers to do more and encouraged everybody, from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Brazil, to increase their production.

There are many executive actions that the Biden administration has taken to combat the climate crisis. They tightened federal regulations on methane and vehicle emissions as well as announcing they would purchase federal electric vehicles. It has also returned to the Paris climate deal, where countries are required to pledge to reduce their emissions.

Experts say that Biden won’t be able to achieve his climate goals if he doesn’t pass the majority of his climate legislation.

Amy Myers Jaffe is a Tufts University research professor and the managing director of Climate Policy Lab. She said that Biden would likely have to make compromises on climate legislation in order to pass it, if this happens.

She stated that “I don’t think it’s a comprehensive bill.” I believe it would have more specific legislation that addresses immediate energy issues and the desire to make a long-term turn to improve our competitiveness for clean energy. This is the ultimate goal of U.S. energy exports.

It is believed that Gina McCarthy, White House climate advisor, will be leaving her position as soon as next month. McCarthy, who was trusted as a Biden advisor and regulatory expert, was to oversee the implementation of climate change legislation. However, her resignation signals some uncertainty about its possible passage.