Jamie Tucker and Stacey Mitchell Quoted by Law360 on Trump and Biden Energy Policies

Akin Gump public law and policy partner Jamie Tucker and environment and natural resources partner Stacey Mitchell have been quoted in the Law360 article “Energy, Climate Policy Chasm Divides Trump And Biden,” which compares and contrasts the energy policies of President Trump with those of former Vice President Joe Biden.

The article reports that President Trump has, throughout his term in office, pushed policies to promote fossil fuel production and use while rolling back many Obama-era climate regulations that cracked down on greenhouse gas emissions. Biden, meanwhile, the article points out, has said the United States needs to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and has proposed spending $2 trillion on policies and investments that accelerate that process.

One particular area of disagreement, said Tucker, is the two candidates’ views on vehicle emissions. The revocation of California’s ability to set its own, stricter vehicle emissions standards that other states have adopted not only epitomizes President Trump’s general deregulatory efforts, Tucker said, but it highlights Trump and Biden’s disparate views on state and federal energy and climate authority.

“There is the push-and pull of what the proper role of states is in setting environmental and energy policy,” said Tucker. “You’ve got air components to that fight, you’ve got fuel source [components] to that fight.”

The article says a Biden victory would lead to a big shift toward combating climate change. That change, though, would be more significant for companies that primarily operate in the United States, it says, than for those that operate globally and are more accustomed to complying with regulatory environments that have made climate change a higher priority.

“It’s not only the global regulatory environment, it’s also the global view on the sources and causes of climate change, and the transition to a recognition that there has to be sustainability,” said Mitchell. “A lot of companies are moving themselves toward investments in clean energy, irrespective of the regulatory framework.”