But cracks soon appeared in Mr Biden’s agenda.
In June, a federal judge in Louisiana sided with Republican attorneys general from 13 states, who argued Biden lacked legal authority to cancel new oil and gas leases. As gasoline prices rose in the summer and fall, the White House sought to increase oil production just as Mr. Biden pleaded with world leaders to stop burning fossil fuels.
Just days after the climate talks in Glasgow, the government auctioned nearly 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, a record for that location, for offshore drilling, despite a campaign promise from Mr Biden that he would stop drilling on federal lands and waters .
White House officials said they were required by law to hold the lease sale, which the Interior Department said had the potential to yield 1.12 billion barrels of oil and 4.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over its term. of 50-year leases. But environmental groups, joined by several Democratic lawmakers, argue the government could have done more to prevent the sale and are suing the government to stop it.
Most notably, Mr. Biden failed to convince the lone Democratic holdout, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, to vote for his $1.7 trillion Build Back Better bill, putting his future in jeopardy. an evenly divided Senate. The House of Representatives approved the package in November.
During negotiations with the White House, Mr. Manchin insisted that the Biden administration cut the most muscular part of the bill, a clean electricity program that would have rewarded electric utilities that stopped burning fossil fuels in favor of wind, solar energy and other clean energy. , and punished those who did not. Mr Manchin also scuttled a provision that would have banned most offshore oil drilling.
The legislation still includes about $555 billion for other climate benefits, including $320 billion in tax incentives for producers and buyers of wind, solar and nuclear power, incentives designed to accelerate the transition from oil, gas and coal. Analysts say it would help the United States get at least halfway to Biden’s climate goals. The future of the legislation remains uncertain, although Senate Democrats said on Tuesday they were determined to see a version of it pass this year.
“Objectively, he promised too much and delivered too little,” said Kevin Book, director of ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based research firm.