Lt. Gov. Barnes Applauds President Biden for Rejoining the Paris Agreement Among Other Day One Climate Actions

MADISON —​ Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes issued the following statement today applauding President Biden for taking immediate action to rejoin the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, along with a number of other actions to address the climate crisis and advance environmental justice on Day One of his administration.

“Four years ago, former President Trump removed the United States from the Paris Agreement, sending a signal to the world that our federal government was abandoning the task of combatting climate change,” said Lt. Gov. Barnes. “Today, President Biden sent a signal of his own—the United States is back at the table, and we are ready to be a global leader in tackling the climate crisis.

“The Biden administration’s climate actions on Day One are an important and hopeful first step towards undoing the tremendous harm of the previous administration and meeting the urgency of this crisis. As the chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change, I am excited to partner with the new administration on advancing state-level policies to address the climate crisis and its disproportionate impacts on communities of color, low-income communities, and rural communities.”

The President’s order includes a series of other climate actions that will revise pollution and efficiency standards across agencies, protect our public lands and natural resources, revoke permits for the Keystone XL pipeline, and re-establish the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases.

After assuming office two years ago, Gov. Evers announced Wisconsin would join the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors committed to implementing the goals of the Paris Agreement on a state level. Gov. Evers also signed Executive Order #52, creating the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change and naming Lt. Gov. Barnes as its chair. To learn more about the task force and its recent report, go to climatechange.wi.gov.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.