Choose the right people
In his new book “How to avoid a climate catastropheBill Gates lays out a 30-year plan to change our behavior from how concrete is made to what we eat as part of an effort or fracture to save the planet.
President Joe Biden chose the “right people” to oversee many of these efforts, the former Microsoft Corporation (MSFTYahoo Finance CEO Andy Serwer said as part of a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday.
Gates specifically mentioned White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy and US Presidential Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry, both of whom hold positions that did not exist in previous administrations. He also summoned Brian Deiss, the new director of the National Economic Council, which focuses on climate change.
Gates says he’s also spoken to Biden a number of times recently. “The two topics that we talked about were pandemic – ending this topic and avoiding the next one – and then climate change as well,” he said.
Gates said the administration’s efforts on the issue “are now in focus.”
“It’s really about China and India”
In November, United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties in Glasgow The two countries will bring together to accelerate efforts such as the Paris Agreement, which the United States recently joined. Gates says the meeting “is going to be very, very important”.
He particularly highlighted the global role that former Secretary of State Kerry will play in the coming years when it comes to convincing the rest of the world to sign up for the effort.
“It’s really about China and India,” Gates said, of what is needed to change the angle globally in things like burning coal. China has it Set a 2060 goal To become carbon neutral. India has not made a similar commitment but Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi They agreed to work together on climate change And other issues during the last call with Biden.
‘Too much delegated power’
On the domestic side, the Biden administration’s efforts are led by former EPA chief Gina McCarthy. Through Yahoo Finance recent interviewMcCarthy discussed some of the administration’s upcoming initiatives, specifically the climate-focused infrastructure bill that Biden promised to unveil in the coming weeks.
Of the president, she said: “His future is built on clean energy.” “His future is built on realizing where the current and future jobs are and how we use these leverage to actually restore our economic growth but also to meet the challenge of climate change.”
McCarthy is also the chair of the National New Climate Task Force and most recently Meeting Leaders from 21 federal agencies pledged across the new administration to make climate part of their mission.
Gates was excited that Biden had given his team free rein to take various initiatives. In his new book, Gates calls for a raft of government actions, including new money to help research technological breakthroughs and new policies to get companies to pay for carbon emissions.
During the interview, Yahoo Finance directly asked McCarthy whether Biden would propose a so-called carbon tax. “I think there are many ways that we can set a price for carbon,” she replied.
Ben Wershkoll is a writer and producer at Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.
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