Biden’s Executive Orders Aim to Reset Trump’s Disastrous Policies

The Biden-Harris administration has issued a series of executive orders to reverse Trump-era environmental rollbacks, focusing on rejoining the Paris Agreement, canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, and reviewing methane and fuel economy standards. The administration is also reviewing chemical safety regulations, water protections, and wilderness conservation, including a moratorium on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. These actions are intended to restore science-based policy and environmental justice across federal agencies including the EPA, Department of Energy, and Department of the Interior.

• President Biden has initiated a comprehensive effort to combat the climate crisis by rejoining the Paris Agreement, canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, and ending the expansion of offshore drilling, specifically affirming that the Atlantic canyons and Arctic Ocean are permanently closed to drilling.
• The administration is reviewing several key environmental and energy standards, including methane pollution standards for the fossil fuel industry, energy efficiency standards for appliances, and fuel economy standards for motor vehicles.
• Conservation efforts include a temporary moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and reviews of protections for the Endangered Species Act, the Roadless Area Rule (affecting Alaska’s Tongass National Forest), and national monument boundaries.
• The administration is targeting the restoration of public health and water safety by reviewing the 2015 Clean Water Rule, coal ash disposal regulations, the Lead and Copper Rule, and the ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos.
• The administration intends to restore the National Environmental Policy Act's role in ensuring transparency and public outreach for federally-funded projects, including halting the construction of the Trump-era border wall.

APA

Earthjustice (2021). Biden’s Executive Orders Aim to Reset Trump’s Disastrous Policies. https://earthjustice.org/brief/2021/biden-signals-sweeping-reset-on-trump-era-policies

Chicago

Earthjustice. Biden’s Executive Orders Aim to Reset Trump’s Disastrous Policies. 2021. https://earthjustice.org/brief/2021/biden-signals-sweeping-reset-on-trump-era-policies.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Biden’s Executive Orders Aim to Reset Trump’s Disastrous Policies |date=20 January 2021 |url=https://earthjustice.org/brief/2021/biden-signals-sweeping-reset-on-trump-era-policies |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2021bidens, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Biden’s Executive Orders Aim to Reset Trump’s Disastrous Policies}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://earthjustice.org/brief/2021/biden-signals-sweeping-reset-on-trump-era-policies}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }