Podesta's first day as US global climate boss - E&E News by POLITICO
Podesta's first day as US global climate boss - E&E News by POLITICO
White House climate adviser John Podesta took on a new job Wednesday, without giving up his old one.
The veteran Democratic operative is already working to ensure hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives under President Joe Biden’s massive Inflation Reduction Act climate law are put toward the clean energy transition.
Now he’ll add international climate diplomacy to his roster, a sprawling portfolio that was held for the past three years by Biden’s first climate envoy, John Kerry — who exited his wood-grained office in the State Department for the last time Wednesday.
That puts Podesta squarely in charge of U.S. climate policy — at home and overseas — during an election year that could determine whether the country’s international pledge to move away from fossil fuels survives or dies.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate legislation
The federal government and states are in the process of implementing two laws — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act — an investment of more than a trillion dollars to address climate change.