Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign is mulling the possibility of adding a climate and energy “czar” if he is elected president in November.
According to a report published by Politico, a person familiar with the campaign’s discussions, said former Secretary of State John Kerry and former Bill Clinton adviser John Podesta are a few names under consideration.
“A climate czar is under serious discussion, but it has not been formally decided,” David Goldwyn, a former Obama administration official, said.
He added, “The thing that is not under debate is the need to have serious White House staff capacity on climate issues. What is under debate is the most effective way to do that.”
Biden has been critical of President Donald Trump’s stance on climate change in the past.
The former vice president called him a “climate arsonist” in the wake of deadly wildfires sweeping the western United States, as IJR previously reported.
“If we have four more years of Trump’s climate denial, how many suburbs will be burned by wildfires? How many suburban neighborhoods will have been flooded out?” Biden said.
Biden’s climate change plan includes $2 trillion over the span of four years toward clean energy and infrastructure.
He said during the first presidential debate he does not support the Green New Deal.
Still, he acknowledges the Green New Deal plays a role in his climate change plan.
“Biden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face,” his campaign website reads.
It adds, “It powerfully captures two basic truths, which are at the core of his plan: (1) the United States urgently needs to embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge, and (2) our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.”