As the clock ticks on his term as president, Joe Biden’s Administration is pressing to finalize as many clean energy projects and rules as possible before handing them off to the next president. 

Surge of Actions

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian said Biden is “sprinting to the finish” of his administration’s time in office to deliver on his promises to promote clean energy and slow climate change. Included in this surge of actions over the last two months have been approval of the nation’s tenth large offshore wind farm (the Maryland Offshore Wind Project), reaching the halfway mark for Biden’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030; a key approval for an offshore wind farm project in New Jersey; and six other announcements by the Energy Department of projects worth a billion dollars or more, include more than $3 billion for battery manufacturing projects. 

Last week, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued final rules on the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit to accelerate U.S. clean energy supply chains and expand domestic clean energy manufacturing.

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Vice President of Federal Policy, Matthew Davis, said, “Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration, clean energy manufacturing in the U.S. is booming, and is providing hundreds of thousands of family-sustaining jobs and strengthening energy security that only making our own domestic clean energy can provide. These climate actions are driving investments in communities of color, rural communities, and communities of low wealth, previously overlooked for clean energy investments, allowing all people to benefit from these federal investments. We congratulate the Biden-Harris administration for continuing to implement their historic affordable clean energy plan that is delivering hundreds of billions of dollars of economic investments around the country, cutting pollution, and reducing energy costs for families and look forward to continuing to work with them to build a clean energy economy.” 

Separately in the past two weeks, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced major new investments in rural clean energy programs and in building or improving transmission lines, microgrids, and other critical grid resiliency projects. 

The Next President

For all the work that is being done, it’s essential to remember that we need the next president to continue and build on this work if we are to sufficiently address the climate crisis before time runs out to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. Only one presidential ticket in this year’s election is committed to that path: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. 

“We applaud Vice President Kamala Harris for her unwavering commitment to building on our historic clean energy progress, which has already delivered big federal investments and stimulated a boom in U.S. clean technology manufacturing, including creating over 240,000 electric vehicle jobs across the country,” says LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “Building the clean vehicles of today and tomorrow here in the U.S. will not only boost the economy, it will also save families on energy costs, fight against the fossil-fueled climate crisis and pollution, and protect our children’s developing lungs, our communities, and future generations. In stark contrast to Vice President Harris’ plan to move America forward, Donald Trump is committed to carrying out his MAGA Project 2025 agenda, which would cut jobs, increase climate pollution, and roll back critical progress. The choice could not be more clear, and we’re all in…to help ensure Kamala Harris becomes our next climate president.”