More than three years into President Joe Biden’s term, White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi says the administration has made “historic progress at a massive scale” in combating global warming.

“But,” he continued, “there's still a lot of work to be done.”

Since entering the Oval Office, Biden oversaw passage of the most significant climate law in history — Democrats’ landmark Inflation Reduction Act — investing hundreds of billions of dollars across the country, from funding for climate resiliency projects to tax credits for electric vehicles. 

What You Need To Know

  • White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi touted the Biden administration's progress on combating climate change in the past three years, pointing to the passage of the most significant climate law in history and a litany of executive actions.

  • Of what young climate activists should make of the White House's record on climate, Zaidi said young people “can be proud of something and not satisfied." He says there is "still a lot of work to be done"
  • The White House is teaming up with progressive leaders, including Green New Deal advocate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to get their climate message out
  • Zaidi previously served as chairman for climate policy and finance in the New York governor’s office

Biden has also taken executive actions, including putting new limits on tailpipe pollution and announcing a workforce training program called the American Climate Corps. 

“We rejoined the Paris Agreement and sparked a domestic clean energy manufacturing boom,” Biden said on Monday, marking Earth Day. 

Even so, Biden’s record is not without its critics. 

The progressive-leaning Sunrise Movement, for example, points to record-breaking oil production in the U.S. plus the White House’s decision to approve a massive oil drilling project in Alaska. 

Asked how that juxtaposes with the administration’s overall climate message, Zaidi said, “The President's been very clear, he wants to accelerate us towards greater energy security and a clean energy future. That's not a transformation that happens overnight. You’ve got to meet people where they are.”

“For a lot of families, the car that's parked at the end of the driveway tonight is the car that's going to be parked at the end of the driveway tomorrow,” he continued. “We need to make sure they have stable energy prices.”

Meanwhile, the president’s Republican opponent, Donald Trump, accuses Biden’s climate agenda of putting the economy at risk. 

On the possibility of the president declaring a climate emergency, which some activists have called for, Zaidi said, “We’re going to continue to look at every tool we’ve got that survives legal scrutiny, that’s well-founded, that’s willing to make a difference.”

Heading into November, climate, alongside the economy and affordability, is expected to be a top issue for young voters, a group Biden is struggling with in the polls.

Asked if the Biden administration’s climate record is one that young progressives should be satisfied with and proud of, Zaidi said, “I think you can be proud of something and not satisfied. Two things can be true at once.”

“We've doubled our pace of decarbonisation, we brought back industries, created tens of thousands of jobs. That's because young people stood up. And I think that should feed a sense of empowerment and hopefulness,” he said. "Young people have their fingerprints all over the domestic climate agenda."

The White House is also teaming up with progressive leaders to get that message out. 

On Earth Day, for instance, Biden was joined by Bronx Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the faces of the Green New Deal movement, who championed the idea of a Civilian Climate Corps. 

Of Ocasio-Cortez, Biden said, “I learned a long time ago, listen to that lady.”

“It is no accident that this president is overseeing the single biggest federal investment in tackling the climate crisis in our nation's history,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her own remarks.

Whether that investment will also pay off with young voters remains the question.

Ali Zaidi and New York

Before joining the Biden administration, White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi previously served as chairman for climate policy and finance in the New York governor’s office. 

In that role, Zaidi said he learned the power of building “coalitions,” such as with labor unions, to help advance the transition to clean power.

Just recently, the longtime head of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation stepped down. Asked what his advice would be for the next person to fill that role, Zaidi said, “Deliver, deliver, deliver.”

“In this decisive decade for climate action, in a moment where we've had a reckoning with the racial injustices that have been perpetrated through the medium of the environment, people are rightfully feeling a sense of impatience,” he said. “I think the best answer — the best balm to it all — is to deliver results that help us move forward.”