| | | | | |  | | By Catherine Boudreau | With help from Ryan Heath, Zack Colman and Rebecca Rainey This week, we analyze whether the Biden-Harris work ahead of taking over the White House upholds the president-elect's promises to hire a diverse staff and prioritize climate change. | | | | 
The people who carry out the Biden-Harris transition are an early test of Biden's commitments to diversity. | Ethan Miller/Getty Images | PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION WILL HIGHLIGHT DIVERSITY, CLIMATE CHANGE — One of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' first steps to prepare for a White House takeover in January was naming hundreds of officials who will start gathering information from federal agencies, despite President Donald Trump's refusal to concede defeat. The people who carry out this power transition say a lot about the direction the president- and vice president-elect want the government to take on issues including climate change, clean energy and infrastructure and workplace safety. They also are an early test of Biden's commitments to diversity and the extent to which he will keep corporate interests at bay — a major demand from the Democratic Party's left flank. Biden and Harris appear to be fulfilling a promise to build a team that "looks like America," in contrast to the predominantly white and male Trump Cabinet. Transition officials said more than half of the 500-plus volunteers who will be deployed to agencies are women, and at least 40 percent represent communities historically underrepresented in the federal government, including people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities. All their names are listed on a hub for transition news. The transition team hasn't publicly disclosed everyone on its paid staff, but officials told The Long Game that 46 percent are people of color, as are 41 percent of senior staff. Women account for more than 50 percent of staff, including among senior positions. On the advisory board, 43 percent are people of color and 52 percent are women. | 
| "As we continue working full-speed ahead to Inauguration, our diverse group of leaders and staff are reflective of America — upholding President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris' belief that through diverse voices we can develop and implement a policy vision to tackle our nation's toughest challenges," Ted Kaufman, co-chair of the transition, said in a statement. The vast majority of people on agency review teams work in academia and nonprofits, rather than major corporations and their lobbying groups, according to a POLITICO review of the employer information provided by the transition. Some exceptions include Don Graves, who is KeyBank's head of corporate responsibility and community and is leading the transition at the Treasury Department. Cynthia Bernstein is a manager at Deloitte, and is leading the transition at the Executive Office of the President. At least two volunteers also work at Amazon and will be embedded at the State Department and White House Office of Management and Budget. Employees at other tech companies, including Salesforce, Uber and Lyft, will have roles as well. Biden's ethics policy doesn't impose an all-out ban on lobbyists, but it requires people who are or were lobbyists within the past year to obtain approval from the transition's general counsel. | | At least 40 How many people on the agency review teams are or were once registered lobbyists, according to The Wall Street Journal. | | Meanwhile, climate policy experts are scattered across federal agencies, including the departments of Justice, Interior, Energy, State and Defense. People with climate expertise are also at the Small Business Administration and the Federal Reserve, indicating that the Biden-Harris team plans to integrate the issue into policymaking previously considered outside its scope. Cecilia Martinez, one of the leading advisers on Biden's $2 trillion climate plan, is heading up the review of the Council of Environmental Quality that coordinates policy across the government. Kevin Washburn is leading the team at the Interior Department, which notably lacks members from the oil and gas industry. A number of people have ties to tribes, as well, a signal about Biden's plan for the department that oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs but has never been led by a Native American. | | | | DON'T MISS NEW EPISODES OF GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS PODCAST: The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded in 2020 amid a global pandemic. Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, unpacks the roadblocks to smart policy decisions and examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. Subscribe for Season Two, available now. | | | | | The Long Game is also keeping an eye on the Labor Department, where Biden's first fight with the business community could take shape . The transition team includes at least five officials from unions, which endorse the president-elect's promise to issue mandatory workplace safety rules to protect employees from the coronavirus as cases surge once again across the country. However, top Republicans and business groups are demanding liability protection for employers as a condition of new stimulus legislation, which could strip the Biden administration of its ability to enforce Covid-19 standards, according to former officials at the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. | | | Welcome to The Long Game! Be sure to catch up on our last issue, which analyzed what a divided Washington means for corporate commitments to sustainability, in case you missed it. We want to know what you think and what we're missing. We won't take anything personally, promise. Send tips, critiques and all your sustainability questions — and answers — to cboudreau@politico.com. Find me on Twitter @ceboudreau. Did someone forward this to you? Subscribe here! LISTEN — The information age is increasingly powered by critical minerals, including our devices, electric vehicles and military equipment. Access to these resources are limited, and the supply is largely controlled by China. In the latest episode of POLITICO's podcast Global Translations, experts are sounding the alarm about America's vulnerability at a time of rising tensions with Beijing. The show airs this Wednesday. Check it out. | | | | 
Jeff Bezos has pledged $10 billion to the Earth Fund, and Amazon this summer also announced a $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund. | Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Amazon | BEZOS DOLES OUT FIRST $719M FROM EARTH FUND — Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos on Monday announced the first 16 recipients of his Earth Fund, which include organizations that work on restoring natural habitat, environmental justice, expanding renewable energy and energy-efficient buildings and researching sustainable agriculture. Bezos — who this summer became the first person to amass $200 billion in net worth — said his first $791 million investment "is just the beginning" of his efforts to fund scientists, activists, NGOs and others. Bezos has pledged $10 billion to the Earth Fund, and Amazon this summer also announced a $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund. The company itself aims to be carbon neutral by 2040, in part by buying renewable energy to power its data centers and electrifying its vehicle fleet. | 
| Some of the Earth Fund beneficiaries detailed how they would spend the money, including the Environmental Defense Fund, which was awarded $100 million. EDF said the donation will support its work on a public satellite tool that locates and measures sources of methane pollution around the world. The World Wildlife Fund was also awarded $100 million, which will be spent in part on efforts to protect and rebuild mangroves in Colombia, Fiji, Madagascar and Mexico in order to pull more carbon from the atmosphere and protect coastlines from intensifying storms. The Salk Institute for Biological Studies received $30 million and said it will support research on increasing the ability of six key agricultural crops to capture and store more carbon in the soil. The Rocky Mountain Institute said its $10 million donation will help expand its current initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from homes and commercial buildings. | | | U.S. STUCK ON THE SIDELINES OF NEXT CLIMATE SUMMIT — When dozens of world leaders convene next month for an online climate summit, it will mark the first time the U.S. government is missing. The Trump administration officially left the Paris accord on Nov. 4, and Biden's transition team can't attend, POLITICO reports this morning. RSVP required, 'bold' climate pledges only: There will be no room for general statements at the Dec. 12 summit, according to a letter that the U.K. and its co-hosts recently sent to heads of state and government. To book a speaking slot, leaders will have to set new goals for reducing pollution this decade, set a date to reach net-zero emissions and announce new finance for developing countries or strategies to adapt to climate change — all of which the U.S. can't deliver. | | | | KEEP UP WITH THE GLOBAL HEALTH AGENDA IN 2021: If nothing else, the past year has revealed how critical it is to keep up with the politics, policy, and people driving global health. A new Biden administration comes with the expectation that America will reclaim its leadership on global health. But will it be that easy? What impact could Joe Biden's presidency have on global vaccine access and the international response to the pandemic? Our Global Pulse newsletter connects leaders, policymakers, and advocates to the people, and politics impacting our global health. Join the conversation and subscribe today. | | | | | However, businesses, cities and regional governments are invited to announce new pledges, meaning some Democratic officials aligned with Biden's climate agenda could be included. Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh are potential contenders. A final decision on the speaking lineup, which needs to be cleared by both the British and French governments — is expected this week. "We've seen several U.S. states make commitments to net zero over the last six months," John Murton, the U.K.'s envoy to global climate talks, told POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast. The world isn't waiting for the Biden administration to get the next stage of global climate diplomacy underway. Both China and the EU have pledged to cut emissions to net zero — China by 2060 and the EU by 2050. More details on how they plan to get there are expected during the summit. | 
The world isn't waiting for the Biden administration to get the next stage of global climate diplomacy underway. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | To make up for his absence, Biden promised to convene global climate leaders next year. The transition team hasn't released details, but allies of the president-elect say the event would be designed to showcase how the U.S. will use the economic recovery from the pandemic as a way to address climate issues, said Elan Strait, a former Obama administration State Department official now at the World Wildlife Fund. | | | — Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) is planning to leave his congressional seat to serve in the Biden White House as a senior adviser focused on engagement with grassroots and advocacy organizations, POLITICO's Natasha Korecki and Alex Thompson report . Richmond is also expected to serve as a liaison with the business community and climate change activists. — Dina Powell McCormick has been named global head of sustainability and inclusive growth at Goldman Sachs, the New York Times reports. She will report to CEO David Solomon, who has increasingly prioritized environmental issues. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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