How Trump and Biden differ on the environment
President Trump and Joe Biden sharply oppose each other on a number of environmental issues. Let’s take a closer look
Trump is pulling the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, signed by almost every country, and has lifted limits on planet-warming emissions.
Biden would rejoin the agreement. He has a $2 trillion plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Trump has weakened regulations on mercury, methane and uranium. Before the pandemic, air quality in the U.S. was worsening for the first time in years.
Biden wants to restore Obama-era regulations, increase spending on water treatment and water pipeline repairs, and prosecute companies that pollute.
Trump has weakened the Endangered Species Act, arguing that it hurt the economy, and rolled back regulations on hunting, fishing and animal welfare.
Biden opposes Trump’s changes to the Endangered Species Act and supported animal protection bills during his time in the Senate.
Trump has slashed restrictions on fossil fuels and tried unsuccessfully to revive the declining coal industry.
Trump has cut protections for wetlands, shrunk national monuments and backed logging and drilling in national forests and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Biden wants to ban new oil and gas permits on public lands and in public waters, and protect 30 percent of the country’s land by 2030.
