Biden is integrating climate into economics and regulation with two key choices

President adds climate champions Lael Brainard as his chief economic adviser and Richard Revesz as his chief regulatory officer.

WASHINGTON — This week, President Biden announced that Lael Brainard, the Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, known for citing the financial risks posed by climate change, would become his top economic adviser.< /p>

His appointment follows that of Richard Revesz, an environmental lawyer and academic known for defending climate regulations, who last month became head of the main White House regulatory office - a place that has always been seen as where environmental controls go to die.

Nominations to two of the most powerful positions of the White House underlines ent how Mr. Biden has pursued an “all-of-government” approach to climate change, appointing people with a background in climate policy to leadership positions in federal agencies. It also illustrates his intention to use executive action to fight global warming in the last two years of this term.

"It's a new thing we've seen from the Biden White House as they put climate at the heart of their economic stimulus and regulatory agenda,” said Jamal Raad, executive director of climate advocacy group Evergreen Action. people in positions of power that are not traditionally climate positions who deeply understand the climate crisis and the need to act on it."

The White House n did not respond to interview requests from Ms. Brainard or Mr. Revesz.

The timing of their meetings is no coincidence. Democrats in Congress passed the nation's first major climate law last year, taking control The Republicans' midterms in the House of Representatives means new environmental legislation is unlikely to be enacted during the remainder of Mr Biden's first term. This leaves Mr. Biden with executive power as a means to push the rest of his climate agenda forward.

This will result in the oversight of approximately $370 billion in new spending for climate and clean energy programs under last year's Inflation Reduction Act. It will also mean drafting new climate regulations, aimed at reducing emissions from cars, trucks, power plants, and oil and gas wells.

ImageA former glass factory is being converted to produce batteries in Bridgeport, W.Va. the conversion.Credit...Andrew Spear for The New York Times< /figure>

In some ways, the appointment of Ms. Brainard as head of the White House National Economic Council, where she is expected to play a key role in implementing the Cut Inflation Act, is a continuation of how Mr Biden sees climate change as central to economic policy. His predecessor on the board, Brian Deese, was previously a senior climate change adviser to former President Barack Obama.

Mr. Revesz's appointment to his new post , however, is revolutionary. The Office of Internal and Regulatory Affairs, an obscure but powerful agency within the White House, is designed to review all proposed federal regulations and balance health, safety, and environmental protection requirements against costs for industries. In his new role, Mr. Revesz becomes the effective guardian of all new federal regulations, including all new climate rules, which he has spent most of his career supporting.

That's exactly what opponents of Mr. Biden's climate agenda fear.

"For people who want to take legal action against the Biden administration is bad news,” said Jonathan Adler, an attorney professor at Case Western Reserve University.

Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president ...