President Biden campaigned on promises to restore many of the environmental regulations rolled back by the previous administration, while promising new efforts to tackle environmental injustice and climate change.
The Washington Post recently published a feature to document the regulatory accomplishments of the first year-and-a-half of the Biden administration, after President Biden campaigned on “greater sense of urgency” in the federal government’s efforts on climate change. The Post’s tally of Biden’s environmental accomplishments totals 51 environmental policies added and 43 proposed.
Meanwhile, the tally of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back environmental regulations totals: 81 overturned, 91 targeted, and 59 not targeted.
Among the overturned Trump administration-era environmental regulations noted by Planetizen in recent months are a weakened “Waters of the United States” rules, weakened auto emissions standards, and the decision to remove the country from the Paris Climate Accords.
“[T]he story of Biden’s first year in office is one not just of doing, but undoing,” according to the article, written by Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, and John Muyskens.
A lot more details of Biden’s environmental track record can be found in the source article linked below.
Read the full story: Tracking Biden’s environmental actions
Biden's Climate Plan Centers Environmental Justice
The Biden administration's climate plan calls for sweeping reform in the country's energy policy and places new focus on addressing racial and economic disparities.
21 Climate Resilience Projects Cancelled by the EPA
The federal government has pulled funding for at least 21 projects related to farming, food systems, and environmental justice to comply with one of Trump’s early executive orders.
USDOT Launches Climate Adaptation Plan
The plan outlines the department’s key priorities in building resilient infrastructure and ensuring environmental justice in historically disinvested communities.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Chicago voters approve permanent festival grounds, penalty for vacant property owners
Currently, major summer and fall festivals take over public parks for weeks at a time, drawing criticism from nearby residents
NYC votes to cut outdoor dining red tape, speed up permitting
New York City also voted to allow the Department of Transportation to begin work on urgent projects before notifying elected officials.
California appears to reject Prop. 45
The proposition would have expanded the projects that qualify for a streamlined environmental review, effectively paring down the California Environmental Quality Act.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
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The Pocatello Development Authority