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Biden’s Failed Climate Office: A Blatant Waste of Resources?

In yet another startling reveal, the Department of Health and Human Services has seen its climate office abruptly dissolved, and employees left jobless as they were placed on administrative leave. The Office of Climate Change and Health Equity, a brainchild of Joe Biden, in an ostensibly grand plan in 2021, aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the health sector. It achieved this in part by nudging healthcare nonprofits to exploit renewable energy tax credits available under the Inflation Reduction Act, a predominantly vague part of Biden’s climate legislation.

This closure, thus far unreported, makes profound waves nation-wide, especially as it follows the efforts of President Trump to freeze grant funding and whittle down the federal workforce. One might begin to see the patterns in the administration’s approach, with the targeting of programs ostensibly designed to broaden access to federal resources for minorities.

Following Trump’s executive order to terminate the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, the employees of this climate office found themselves on an unceremonious administrative leave commencing on January 22. The office, comprising approximately eight staff members, had only its skeletal online presence continue for a few days post-executive order — a vestige of the quickly dissipating Biden era.

Shortly after, the website content related to the climate office began disappearing, joining the ranks of other public health resources mysteriously scrubbed from governmental websites. Earlier in the week, public health officials expressed concerns about the removal of content from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website pertaining to sexually transmitted diseases and gender-affirming care.

In addition, the CDC was blocked from accessing its Social Vulnerability Index, a tool utilizing Census Bureau data to assess the susceptibility of communities to natural disasters. These sweeping changes are designed to shake up the system and are supposed to drive renewed efficiency in government structures.

In the whirlwind of changes, the Senate is expected to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the health secretary in the upcoming days. At first glance, Kennedy might look like an ally of climate activists, but a closer scrutiny reveals a different story.

Only five years ago, Kennedy published a book pointing fingers at the Republicans for the ongoing ‘climate crisis.’ But, his dramatic shift in recent years, particularly spurred by his failed independent presidential bid in 2023, paints him in a new light. His August interview with a journalist revealed that he had been ‘expelled’ from the environmental movement due to his disbelief in ‘this carbon orthodoxy that the only issue is carbon.’

During the times of the Biden administration, the climate office dedicated efforts to produce interactive online tools in an attempt to educate the public on the detriments of extreme temperatures on health, and another tracking heat-related ER visits. These efforts, however, may now be fading into oblivion as the winds change direction.

Among the casualties of the website scrubbing was a voluntary pledge for hospitals, health systems, pharmaceutical firms, and suppliers geared towards a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, with a lofty goal of net zero by 2050. However, it is clear that the expectations of these organizations are now up in the air.

As of November, a roster of about 140 organizations had committed to this pledge. While one may argue that 140 is a significant number, perspective reveals that it’s considerably a drop in the ocean when taking into account the total number of organizations in the health sector nationwide.

Interestingly, the non-profit Health Care Without Harm has claimed responsibility for preserving the pledge. Yet, it remains to be seen how much influence a single nonprofit organization has over a proactive situation that formerly had federal support.

All these developments leave the future of the health sector’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a state of flux and uncertainty. With the abrupt closing of the climate office and the administration leaning heavily towards conservative principles, the next steps for health care’s role in tackling climate change are anybody’s guess.

However, the current apprehension could very well be the beginning of a new dawn, where practical solutions are sought after over grandstand gestures. Only time will tell what new strategies emerge in the era of these sweeping government changes.