Holden Lauds Executive Orders on Climate Change

Assemblyman Chris Holden, chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Utilities and Energy, said he was heartened to see President Joe Biden signing executive orders on climate change in the first days of the new administration.

“We are thrilled to have our strong federal partners back,” said Holden, a former Pasadena councilmember and mayor.

“Now, with support from the Biden administration, California and other states doing their part can effectively work together towards reversing the most catastrophic impacts of climate change,” the Pasadena Democrat said in a prepared statement.

A fact sheet on the president’s executive orders indicates Biden is following through on campaign promises to take aggressive action to tackle climate change, including rejoining the Paris Climate Accords and an immediate review of harmful rollbacks of standards that protect air, water, and communities.

“President Joe Biden’s executive actions on climate change show us what true leadership looks like,” Holen said.

“Climate change is one of the biggest problems we face, and it is imperative that the United States take bold action to re-establish itself as a global leader,” Holden said.

Holden said California lawmakers over the past four years have implemented policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, switch industry from fossil fuel to clean energy, and create green jobs.

The executive actions that were taken by Biden on Wednesday directed the government to elevate climate change to a national security priority, to conserve about 30 percent of all federal land and water by 2030, and suspend new leases for natural gas and oil development on federal lands and waters.

Executive actions also will create a commission focused on environmental justice and creating green jobs, direct federal agencies to rely on science in their rulemaking, and convene a climate summit of world leaders on Earth Day, April 22.