WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Wednesday was undertaking the most ambitious effort ever to cut America’s oil, gas and coal emissions and stave off the worst effects of climate change. New executive orders target federal subsidies for those industries and halt new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters.
The orders awaiting his signature aim to conserve 30 percent of the country’s lands and ocean waters in the next 10 years, move to an all-electric federal vehicle fleet and elevate climate change to a national security priority. The conservation plan would set aside millions of acres for recreation, wildlife and climate efforts by 2030 as part of Bidens campaign pledge for a $2 trillion program to slow global warming.
The president is directing agencies to focus help and investment on the low-income and minority communities that live closest to polluting refineries and other installations, and the oil- and coal-patch towns that face job losses as the nation moves to…