In his new book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster”, Bill Gates proposes a thirty-year plan to change our behavior from how we produce concrete to what we eat as part of an effort to save or break the planet .
President Joe Biden has “chosen the right people” to oversee many of these efforts, former Microsoft (MSFT) CEO told Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Andy Serwer as part of an extensive interview on Wednesday.
Gates specifically mentioned White House national housing adviser Gina McCarthy and the U.S. special envoy for climate change, John Kerry, who both hold positions that did not exist in previous governments. He also called on Brian Deese, the new director of the National Economic Council, who is focusing on climate change.
Gates says he also spoke to Biden several times recently. “The two topics we talked about were pandemics – ending this and avoiding the next topic – and then climate change,” he said.
The government’s efforts on the issue are now ‘really in focus’, Gates said.
‘It’s really about China and India’
In November, the UN’s climate change conference of the parties in Glasgow will bring together countries to accelerate efforts such as the Paris Agreement, to which the US recently rejoined. The meeting “will be very, very important,” Gates said.
He specifically emphasized the world role that former Secretary of State Kerry will play in the coming years when it comes to convincing the rest of the world to record the effort.
“It’s really about China and India,” Gates said of what is needed to turn things like coal-burning around the world. China has set a goal of the year 2060 to become carbon neutral. India has not made a similar commitment, but Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to work together on climate change and other issues during a recent call with Biden.
“Very delegated authority”
Locally, the Biden administration is headed by Gina McCarthy, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency. During a recent Yahoo Finance interview, McCarthy discussed some upcoming administrative initiatives, specifically a climate-oriented infrastructure bill that Biden promised to introduce in the coming weeks.
“His future is built on clean energy,” she said of the president. “His future is based on the realization of the work of today and the future and how we use the lever to restore our economic growth, but also to tackle the challenge of climate change.”
McCarthy also chairs the new National Climate Task Force and recently convened a meeting where leaders of 21 federal agencies in the new administration promised to make climate a part of their mission.
Gates was enthusiastic that Biden had given his team free rein to continue with various initiatives. In his new book, Gates calls for a series of government actions, including new money to investigate technological breakthroughs and new policies to get companies to pay a price for carbon emissions.
During the interview, Yahoo Finance asked McCarthy directly if Biden would ever propose a so-called carbon tax. “I think there are many ways we can price carbon,” she replied.
Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer of Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.
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