Government Policies Surrounding Sustainability in the USA and Canada

Many policies around the world can cause countries to contribute positively to the world becoming more sustainable. This article will provide an overview of various policies in the USA and Canada that work to improve sustainability.

Canadian Policies

Sustainability-focused changes in Canada include the recent transition of the recycling program from the typical Blue Box program, operated by Stewardship Ontario, to one that is producer-focused. This means that Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) needed to be established to help producers collect and manage their recycling.

A climate plan was developed by the Canadian Government, entitled A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy. This plan sees emission levels being reduced by 31% in 2030 as compared to 2005 levels. Relatedly, Canada passed the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, which commits to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. This Act is intended to ensure “transparency and accountability as the government works to deliver to its targets” (Service Canada, 2024).

To support the use of greener methods to provide energy to homes, the Government of Canada created the Canada Greener Homes Grant, which provides grants of $5000, particularly to those who fall into the low to median income categories. The Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program aims to help retrofit, repair, upgrade and build sustainable buildings. This program dedicates $1.5 billion toward these efforts, at least 10% of this funding committed toward First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities.

USA Sustainability Policies

With President Biden’s recent withdrawal from candidacy as the president of the USA for the upcoming 2024 election, US voters must consider what he did while in office and how the former presidential administration of the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, compares. President Biden put forward many more policies related to sustainability compared to Trump, essentially undoing all of the negative strides Trump made against sustainability while he was in office. The efforts taken by Biden to support sustainability have been similar to the previous democratic president, Barack Obama.

At the COP26 conference in 2021, President Biden pledged to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, and overall to reach net zero emissions by 2050. An act referred to as the AMAZON21 Act aims to reduce carbon emissions globally, allocating $9 billion to ending and reversing deforestation. This is in contrast to the Trump administration, in which the USA was entirely absent from the COP26 conferences, due to Trump insisting that the Paris Accord was “very unfair at the highest level to the United States,” attributing his withdrawal to concerns about harm to the US economy. This decision came just one presidential term after former US President Obama joined the Paris Accord during his administration.

Biden also signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), two acts which make great strides toward reducing climate change. 

Other changes made during the Biden administration that support sustainability include revising the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), removing subsidies on fossil fuels and creating incentives for green energy, and encouraging wind energy production, with a goal for wind energy production from offshore wind turbines to be doubled by 2030.

References

BBC News. (2021, January 27). Biden signs “existential” executive orders on climate and environment. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55829189

Biden signs infrastructure bill into law. (2021, November 15). [Video]. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-sign-infrastructure-bill-marking-victory-hard-fought-legislative-battle-n1283910

Canada, N. R. (2024, July 5). Canada Greener Homes Grant. https://natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-efficiency/homes/canada-greener-homes-initiative/canada-greener-homes-grant/canada-greener-homes-grant/23441

Chakraborty, B. (2017, June 1). Paris Agreement on climate change: US withdraws as Trump calls it “unfair.” Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/paris-agreement-on-climate-change-us-withdraws-as-trump-calls-it-unfair

Federal Sustainability Plan: Catalyzing America’s Clean Energy Industries and Jobs | Office of the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer. (n.d.). https://www.sustainability.gov/federalsustainabilityplan/

Gardner, T. (2021, April 7). Biden tax plan replaces U.S. fossil fuel subsidies with clean energy incentives. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-treasury-tax-energy-idUSKBN2BU2HL/

ITT/AV PROs – RPRA. (2024, March 22). RPRA. https://rpra.ca/programs/ittav/pros/

Schnell, M. (2021, November 3). The Hill. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/579810-hoyer-to-introduce-9b-bill-bolstering-bidens-deforestation-vow-at/

Service Canada. (2024, May 17). Net-zero emissions by 2050. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/net-zero-emissions-2050.html

Service Canada. (2022, July 7). Canada’s climate actions for a healthy environment and a healthy economy. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/climate-plan-overview/actions-healthy-environment-economy.html

The US is poised for an energy revolution. (2023, April 17). Goldman Sachs. https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/the-us-is-poised-for-an-energy-revolution.html

Wikipedia contributors. (2024, July 13). Environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policy_of_the_Joe_Biden_administration