Category Archives: Biden Administration

Biden Administration, Civil Rights, Health Care, News & Photo Features

Federal, State Efforts to Protect Access to Medication Abortion

New Yorkers protest for reproductive freedom. The Biden administration announced new actions to protect access to medication abortion. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is one of the governors announcing their state will stockpile medication.  © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Efforts are underway at the federal and state level to protect women’s reproductive rights. This is a fact sheet from the White House on Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to protect access to medication abortion:

Addressing the Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access, Vice President Kamala Harris said, “We are having an experience where the women of America in particular have been in a state of fear about what this means for them, what this means for the people they love. 
 
“We are looking at a situation in our country where healthcare providers — most of whom have had a calling to do the good and important work of taking care of other people — are in fear of losing their licenses and, worse, even being prosecuted and criminalized for the work that they do that is about providing healthcare for people in our country.

“I have met, for example, with a woman by the name of Amanda, who talked with me — I met with she and her husband — about how when she was pregnant, she then had suffered a miscarriage and three times went to seek medical care and was denied because of the healthcare provider’s fear that they would be prosecuted or in some way penalized for helping her through her miscarriage, and only helped her when she got to the point where she had sepsis — a life-threatening situation. 
 
“I have met with and talked with doctors who are in fear of losing their license, of being prosecuted, and of this situation actually having an impact on the relationships of trust that they have with their patients. 
 
“This indeed is a healthcare crisis in America.  And we have to acknowledge and understand it to be just that. 
 
“And then, five days ago, a district court in the state of Texas ruled to block access to abortion medication in every state in the country — in effect, if this ruling stands, creating what could very righteously be considered a nationwide ban, at least as it relates to what we believe to be half of the women who when seeking abortion care, receive it through abortion medication.
 
“So we have, in effect, a situation where politicians and politics have driven lawyers to go to a court of law where a judge who is not a medical professional is making a decision to undo the ruling 20 — over 20 years ago of the FDA that declared a specific medication safe and effective for the American people.
 
“So, one must appreciate that when we think about the integrity of our healthcare delivery systems and attacking the very credibility of the FDA on this one matter for the sake of politics and a political agenda, the wide-sweeping ramifications this can have. 
 
“And I’d ask every person who is aware of this to understand the implications of this ruling by just opening your medicine cabinet, because it is very likely that you rely on some type of medication prescribed by a doctor, approved by the FDA, to alleviate your health concerns and to improve your condition in life.
 
“So, the ramifications of this decision five days ago are wide-sweeping and, for that reason, require, we do believe, a very serious response.

“And again, I will state that our administration and our President, Joe Biden, has been very clear that we will stand to protect the integrity of the healthcare system in America and we will stand to protect those who have a right to be able to make decisions about their own body and their own life.”

Fact Sheet: Protecting Access to Medication Abortion

Protecting access to reproductive health care has been a priority since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, made even more urgent by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The President and Vice President are focused on ensuring access to mifepristone, which the FDA first approved as safe and effective to end early pregnancy more than twenty years ago and which accounts for more than half of abortions in the United States.  

Despite this decades-long safety record, a single court in Texas has taken the dangerous step of attempting to override FDA’s approval of medication abortion—which is used not only for abortion but also for helping women manage miscarriages. If this decision stands, it will put women’s health at risk and undermine FDA’s ability to ensure patients have access to safe and effective medications when they need them.

This lawsuit is part of broader efforts to ban abortion nationwide and to prevent women from making their own decisions about their own bodies without government interference.

The Administration is fighting this ruling in the courts, and stands by FDA’s scientific and evidence-based judgment that mifepristone is safe and effective. Shortly after the ruling last Friday, the Justice Department filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit and sought a stay of the injunction pending appeal. A wide range of stakeholders, including FDA scholars, leading medical organizations, and pharmaceutical companies, have expressed their support for maintaining access to this FDA-approved medication.

In addition to defending in court FDA’s ability to approve safe and effective medications, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken the following steps to protect access to medication abortion:

  • Elevating Medication Abortion in the Administration’s Response to the Dobbs Decision. On the day of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the President identified preserving access to medication abortion as one of two key priorities to guide the Administration’s immediate response to the ruling. President Biden directed the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that mifepristone is as widely accessible as possible in light of the FDA’s determination that the drug is safe and effective. He also emphasized the need to protect access to medication abortion in the face of attacks and to stand with medical experts who have stressed that restrictions on medication abortion are not based in science. On the same day, the Attorney General made clear that states may not ban mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortion, based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy.
  • Issuing an Executive Order to Protect Access to Abortion, including Medication Abortion. In an Executive Order on Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services issued in July 2022, President Biden reiterated the importance of medication abortion and directed the Secretary of HHS to identify potential actions to protect and expand access to abortion care, including medication abortion. In response, HHS developed an action plan to protect and strengthen access to reproductive care and has made significant progress in executing this plan and protecting access to care nationwide.
  • Addressing Barriers to Accessing Care. In his second Executive Order on Securing Access to Reproductive and Other Healthcare Services issued in August 2022, President Biden addressed the challenges that women have faced in accessing prescription medication at pharmacies in the wake of Dobbs, including medication abortion, which is also used to manage miscarriages. These included reports of women of reproductive age being denied prescription medication at pharmacies—including medication that is used to treat stomach ulcers, lupus, arthritis, and cancer—due to concerns that these medications, some of which can be used in medication abortion, could be used to terminate a pregnancy. To help ensure access to medication, HHS issued guidance to roughly 60,000 U.S. retail pharmacies to emphasize their obligations under federal civil rights laws to ensure access to comprehensive reproductive health care services.
  • Directing Further Efforts to Ensure Safe Access to Medication Abortion. On what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in January 2023, President Biden issued a Presidential Memorandum on Further Efforts to Protect Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services to further protect access to medication abortion. The Presidential Memorandum directed the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of HHS to consider new actions to protect the safety and security of patients, providers, and pharmacies who wish to legally access or provide mifepristone.

This Presidential Memorandum was issued in the face of attacks by state officials to prevent women from accessing mifepristone and discourage pharmacies from becoming certified to dispense the medication. These attacks, and the Presidential Memorandum, followed independent, evidence-based action taken by FDA to allow mifepristone to continue to be prescribed by telehealth and sent by mail as well as to enable interested pharmacies to become certified.

  • Engaging Medical Experts and Reproductive Rights Leaders to Underscore the Need for Medication Abortion. In February 2023, Vice President Harris convened a roundtable of leading medical experts and reproductive rights advocates to discuss how a court decision to invalidate the approval of mifepristone would affect patients and providers. Participants represented Physicians for Reproductive Health, American Medical Women’s Association, the Society of Family Planning, the American Academy of Family Physicians, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan DC, the National Women’s Law Center, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the ACLU, and Sister Song.

Meanwhile, several states including New York and Massachusetts are stockpiling abortion medication.

Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the Planned Parenthood of Greater New York’s virtual press conference on medication abortion rulings where she announced that the State will stockpile the abortion medication Misoprostol as part of ongoing efforts to protect access to abortion. At the Governor’s direction, the New York State Department of Health will immediately begin purchasing Misoprostol in order to stockpile 150,000 doses, a five-year supply, in order to meet anticipated needs.  

“When it comes to reproductive freedom in this country, we are right now facing historic, horrific setbacks,” Hochul said. “Just one year ago, women in this country had a constitutionally protected right to an abortion. And then in June with the Dobbs decision, we are forced to confront a painful reality that the fundamental rights that my grandmother’s generation had to fight for were stripped away with one decision. Now, the MAGA anti-abortion extremists, legislators, and judges alike are hell-bent on continuing down this path. They’re coming after all forms of reproductive health care. And they took their latest step just on Friday, with the ruling that’ll further limit access to Mifepristone and for millions of women across this country.  

“One judge in Amarillo, Texas thinks he knows better than thousands of doctors and scientists and experts. And not to mention the countless women who’ve used this medication safely for decades. This isn’t just an attack on abortion, it’s an attack on democracy. Courts have never before revoked a science backed decision made by the FDA. 

“And if this decision stands, it could have unprecedented consequences that reach far beyond abortion, threatening the FDA’s critical role in our country’s public health system. So, this moment calls for bold leadership at every level of government, and I’m glad the Biden Administration came out so strong against this ruling and we’ve been standing shoulder to shoulder with them. And at the State level here in New York, we’re not going to let one extremist judge turn back the clock on more than 20 years of safe, reproductive care. 

“New York has always been at the forefront of this fight. In the wake of the Dobbs Decision, we allocated $35 million to reproductive health care providers. We mandated all insurance companies doing business in New York cover abortion, and I signed a package of legislation protecting providers and our patients. And last year, the attacks were on abortion procedures. This year, medication abortion. What’s next? Contraception? Birth control? Well, I’m here to say, ‘Not New York. Not now, not ever’.”  

“So, last year we called an extraordinary legislative session. We took one step closer to passing New York’s Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA, as written, will enshrine abortion and contraception rights and protect all forms of reproductive healthcare in our state constitution. The ERA and these fundamental rights will be on the ballot next year. Once again, states have become the battleground on these fights and the latest steps to tear down these rights have only strengthened our resolve, so I’m proud to announce that New York State will create a stockpile of Misoprostol, another form of medication abortion.  

“Extremist judges have made it clear that they won’t stop at any one particular drug or service, so we are going to ensure that New Yorkers will continue to have access to medication abortion no matter what. 

“We’re also announcing that if this decision stands by this judge, we’ll dedicate up to $20 million more for reproductive health care providers beyond our current $35 million to support methods of access to other forms of care, including procedures. And we’re in conversations with the legislature right now about requiring private insurance to cover medication abortion as well when it’s prescribed off-label. 

“All this is in addition to actions we laid out in my proposed 2024 budget, which increases the Medicaid reimbursement rights for reproductive health services, provides more funding for providers, and allows pharmacists to prescribe birth control, as well as implementing data privacy protections and expanding abortion access on SUNY and CUNY campuses. 

“We’ll always protect access to reproductive health care and all individual rights here in New York – it’s part of our legacy. And in fact, abortion was legal here in New York three years before Roe v. Wade was even decided. So, as long as I’m governor, New Yorkers will have access to the care they need when they need it. And we’ll continue to open our arms to all people seeking freedoms and autonomy. And it’s important that we’re still fighting this fight yet again. But here we are with all of you, our partners, suiting up for battle, in partnership. Let’s continue and let’s win this fight.”

Biden Administration, Civil Rights

Biden Administration to Fight Judge’s Ruling That Would End Access to Key Drug Used in Most Abortions

“We’re not going back.” The Biden Administration said it would stand with women and fight to uphold reproductive rights after a Texas judge ruled for anti-abortion extremists to remove approval for a key drug, mifepristone, used in most abortions and miscarriages that has been used safely by over 5 million women over the past 23 years, and declared it would challenge the decision in court. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The Biden Administration reacted to the Texas judge’s decision siding with anti-abortion extremists to remove approval for a key drug, mifepristone,  used in most abortions that has been used safely by over 5 million women over the past 23 years, and declared it would challenge the decision in court. Meanwhile, another federal court found in favor of Democratic Attorney Generals that the drug must be made more readily available. The contradicting decisions means that the cases will likely go before the Supreme Court, which has already overturned Roe v Wade based on a legal reasoning that states, not the federal government, should determine whether women have reproductive rights.—Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com


Statement from President Joe Biden on Decision in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA 

Today a single federal district judge in Texas ruled that a prescription medication that has been available for more than 22 years, approved by the FDA and used safely and effectively by millions of women here and around the world, should no longer be approved in the United States.  The Court in this case has substituted its judgment for FDA, the expert agency that approves drugs.  If this ruling were to stand, then there will be virtually no prescription, approved by the FDA, that would be safe from these kinds of political, ideological attacks. 
 
The prescription medication in question in this case is used for medication abortion, and medication abortion accounts for over half the abortions in America.  The lawsuit, and this ruling, is another unprecedented step in taking away basic freedoms from women and putting their health at risk.  This does not just affect women in Texas – if it stands, it would prevent women in every state from accessing the medication, regardless of whether abortion is legal in a state.  It is the next big step toward the national ban on abortion that Republican elected officials have vowed to make law in America.
 
My Administration will fight this ruling.  The Department of Justice has already filed an appeal and will seek an immediate stay of the decision.  But let’s be clear – the only way to stop those who are committed to taking away women’s rights and freedoms in every state is to elect a Congress who will pass a law restoring Roe versus Wade.  Vice President Harris and I will continue to lead the fight to protect a woman’s right to an abortion, and to make her own decisions about her own health.  That is our commitment. 

Vice President Kamala Harris:

Today’s unprecedented decision threatens the rights of women nationwide to make decisions about their health care and the ability to access medication prescribed to them by their doctors. Simply put: this decision undermines the FDA’s ability to approve safe and effective medications—from chemotherapy drugs, to asthma medicine, to blood pressure pills, to insulin—based on science, not politics. This decision threatens the rights of Americans across the country, who can look in their medicine cabinets and find medication prescribed by a doctor because the FDA engaged in a process to determine the efficacy and safety of that medication.

At the same time as the court in Texas issued the decision to try to restrict access to FDA-approved medication, a court in Washington state reached a different conclusion.

Each person in our nation should have the right to access safe and effective medication which has been approved by the FDA. In the face of attacks on a woman’s right to access an abortion, our Administration will continue to fight to protect reproductive freedom and the ability of all Americans to make health care decisions with their doctors free from political interference.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland:

The Justice Department tonight issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland following the district court decisions in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA and Washington et al. v. FDA:

The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the decision of the District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA and will be appealing the court’s decision and seeking a stay pending appeal. Today’s decision overturns the FDA’s expert judgment, rendered over two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and effective. The Department will continue to defend the FDA’s decision. 

Separately, the Justice Department is reviewing the decision of the District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in Washington et al. v. FDA.

The Department is committed to protecting Americans’ access to legal reproductive care.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra:

This is a regressive ruling issued by a single court in a single state that will have a disastrous impact on women and families across America if not overturned. Mifepristone was approved by the FDA as safe and effective to manage abortion decades ago and has been approved by drug regulators around the globe. Today’s decision jeopardizes the health of women across the country. It undermines our nation’s entire system of drug approval. It opens the door for courts to overturn FDA’s evidence-based decisions for purely political or ideological reasons.

Today’s ruling affects more than just access to abortion care. Some physicians use mifepristone for miscarriage management, which can be one of the most difficult times in a woman’s life.

We will vigorously fight this unprecedented decision in court. We have appealed the decision and will seek a stay. The Texas district court’s ruling does not take effect for seven days, so mifepristone remains approved and available for the time being while we pursue our appeal.  Separately, another temporary order issued today in Washington State seeks to maintain access to mifepristone by directing the FDA not to take action to alter the status quo as it relates to the availability of mifepristone under the REMS in certain states.  We are reviewing that decision.

Biden Administration, Civil Rights, Democracy, Human Rights

The Status of Women is the Status of Democracy: Advancing Women’s Political and Civic Participation and Leadership at the Second Summit for Democracy

“Democracy not theocracy – protests in the United States over attacks on reproductive freedom, turning women and girls into second-class citizens without the same right to bodily autonomy or self-determination. Vice President Kamala Harris has said “the status of women is the status of democracy.” The ability of women and girls to participate safely, freely, and equally in political life and in society is a defining feature of democracy, but this hard-won progress is increasingly fragile. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

As Vice President Kamala Harris has said, “the status of women is the status of democracy.” The ability of women and girls to participate safely, freely, and equally in political life and in society is a defining feature of democracy, but this hard-won progress is increasingly fragile. Wherever women and girls are under threat, so, too, is democracy, peace, and stability—from Iran, where women are courageously demanding respect for their human rights and fundamental freedoms in the face of oppression; to Ukraine, where we are once more seeing rape used as a weapon in Russia’s brutal and unjust war; to Afghanistan, where the Taliban bars women and girls from attending school and fully participating in society.

As we face unprecedented global challenges, we must harness the full potential, participation, and leadership of women and girls. In hosting the second Summit for Democracy, the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to advancing women’s political and civic participation and leadership and ensuring that they are at every table where decisions are being made. Research shows that the status of women and the stability of nations are inextricably linked, and that societies that foster gender discrimination and allow oppressive gender norms to flourish are more likely to be unstable. 

At the second Summit for Democracy, the Biden-Harris Administration highlighted key actions and progress made during the intervening Year of Action.

Accelerating Women’s and Girls’ Civic and Political Leadership under the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal. At the first Summit, President Biden established the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, a landmark set of policy and foreign assistance initiatives that increase the Administration’s ongoing work to bolster democracy and defend human rights globally. Today, we are building on those efforts by:

  • Expanding the Advancing Women’s and Girls’ Civic and Political Leadership Initiative, including in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Announced at the first Summit for Democracy, this USAID-led initiative works to dismantle barriers to the political empowerment of women and girls by building the pipeline of women leaders and facilitating their safe and meaningful participation in political, peacebuilding and transition processes. This initiative will expand efforts to prevent and mitigate violence against women in politics and public life. USAID is providing more than $15 million to this initiative and is beginning program implementation in eight focus countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Tanzania, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Kyrgyz Republic, and Yemen.
  • Establishing the Network for Gender Inclusive Democracy: USAID is launching a Network for Gender Inclusive Democracy (Network) to provide strategic direction and a platform for bilateral donors, intergovernmental institutions, civil society and academic partners to align their multilateral and country-level efforts in support of women’s political and civic participation and leadership.  The Network will facilitate coordination, knowledge-sharing, and policy advocacy and carry forward the work of the Cohort on Gender Equality as a Prerequisite for Democracy, including the policy recommendations and roadmap developed during the Year of Action.
     
  • Investing in SHE PERSISTS (Supporting Her Empowerment: Political Engagement, Rights, Safety, and Inclusion Strategies to Succeed). The State Department will invest $2 million over this year in support of SHE PERSISTS, an initiative announced at the first Summit for Democracy that bolsters women’s political participation and empowerment to build and sustain good governance and lasting democracy globally.  This multi-year program provides funding for technical assistance to advance women’s safety, political participation and empowerment, and initiatives for inclusive democracy, with a focus on diverse groups and marginalized populations.

Advancing Women’s Involvement in Peace and Security Efforts. Women’s participation in peace and security processes—as peacekeepers, leaders, and members of the defense and security sector—is essential to global security, stability and democracy. To advance women’s meaningful participation, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken the following actions:

  • Investing in SHE WINS (Support Her Empowerment: Women’s Inclusion for New Security): The Department of State is investing an additional $1.7 million, working with Congress and subject to the availability of funds, for the SHE WINS initiative, a nearly $10 million program that advances the leadership of local women and women-led civil society organizations to address peace and security challenges in their communities. Since the first Summit for Democracy, SHE WINS has initiated projects in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Papua New Guinea, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. To provide agile, easy-to-access funds that directly support women-led groups facing emerging crises and challenges related to Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), the State Department launched the SHE WINS Rapid Response Fund in November 2022.
     
  • Co-Chairing the Women, Peace, and Security Focal Points Network. The United States, in partnership with the government of Romania, is the 2023 Co-Chair of the UN Women-led Women, Peace, and Security Focal Points Network (WPS-FPN), a cross-regional forum coordinated by UN Women to share best practices and experiences to advance WPS globally.  As co-chair, the U.S. will host the WPS-FPN Capital Level Meeting in June 2023, bringing together representatives and leaders from over 95 different countries and organizations, including members of Congress and the Administration. 
     
  • Reducing Gaps for Women’s Participation in Security Forces: In consultation with the Department of State, the Department of Defense is establishing a pilot program to conduct an assessment of opportunities for women’s involvement in the security forces of select partner nations.  Through this multi-year program, the Department of Defense intends to standardize the way it assesses barriers to women’s participation in partner nation security forces, in order to inform future security cooperation activities.

The Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse (Global Partnership). A commitment from the first Summit for Democracy and launched at the 66th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the Global Partnership, which currently has 12 participating governments, brings together international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to prioritize, understand, prevent, and address the growing scourge of technology-facilitated gender-based violence,  which disproportionately impacts women and LGBTQI+ political and public figures, leaders, journalists and activists.

Today, alongside the release of the Global Partnership’s 2023 Roadmap, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing key actions and investments to prevent and respond to technology-facilitated gender-based violence and counter its chilling effects on women leaders and democratic participation, including more than $13 million in targeted funding across USAID and the Department of State. Key actions include:

  • Combatting technology-facilitated violence targeting women in politics and public life, including gendered disinformation.
    • Transform Digital Spaces Initiative (Transform). USAID is launching Transform, with planned investments of up to $6 million over three years, to prevent and address technology-facilitated gender-based violence, especially violence perpetrated against women in politics and public life. Transform’s pilot projects across three countries will integrate expertise from women-led civil society organizations working to address gender-based violence, women’s political and civic participation, and digital democracy.  Transform will synthesize and share practical, comparative knowledge drawn from these pilots to inform global efforts to address this problem. 
       
    • Promoting Information Integrity and Resilience Initiative (ProInfo). This week, USAID will announce the Promoting Information and Resilience Integrity (Pro-Info) Initiative, which will build on the work of the Summit for Democracy Information Integrity Cohort, and expand efforts by USAID and the U.S. Department of State to strengthen information integrity and resilience globally, with efforts to address the disproportionate targeting of women and LGBTQI+ leaders, activists, and public figures.
       
    • Capacity-building to prevent and address technology-facilitated gender-based violence globally, including access to services for survivors. Working with Congress and subject to the availability of funds, the Department of State will continue to invest over $7 million in programs focused on documenting, mitigating, preventing and responding to technology-facilitated gender-based violence and integrating solutions that address online harassment and abuse, including support for women in public-facing roles in politics and the media, through: small grants for awareness, prevention and digital safety workshops; access to legal and psychosocial services for survivors; and programs to encourage collaboration between civil society organizations focused on gender-based violence and digital rights, to support coalitions to promote institutional change.
       
  • Expanding data and research on technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
    • Deepening the evidence base on gendered disinformation. Today, the State Department Global Engagement Center (GEC) is releasing a public Executive Summary of a joint research report on gendered disinformation. Conducted with Canada, the European External Action Service, Germany, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom, the groundbreaking global study finds that state and non-state actors use gendered disinformation to silence women, discourage online political discourse, and shape perceptions toward gender and the role of women in democracies, and underscore the need for more research to tackle this scourge.
       
    • Measuring technology-facilitated gender-based violence through Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). In 2023, USAID will pilot questions within the DHS Domestic Violence Module in two countries with high internet penetration rates to measure technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
       
  • Advancing U.S. policies to prevent and respond to technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Countries represented on the Global Partnership—including the United States—make a commitment to advance activities within their own countries to prioritize and address gender-based online harassment and abuse.  In support of that commitment, the Administration has taken the following key actions:
    • Building a blueprint for action to prevent and address technology-facilitated gender-based violence. To tackle this scourge in the U.S, President Biden established a Task Force with a mandate to identify concrete actions in a Blueprint to prevent online harassment and abuse, provide support for survivors, increase accountability, and expand research. Last month, the White House published an Executive Summary of the initial Task Force blueprint, which includes a broad range of new and expanded commitments from Federal agencies to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence across four lines of effort: Prevention, Survivor Support, Accountability, and Research. 
       
    • Integrating a gender lens in the National Cybersecurity Strategy. Earlier this month, the Administration released the National Cybersecurity Strategy, which integrates a gender lens across key priorities to secure cyberspace and our digital ecosystem, including the imperative of increasing the participation of women and LGBTQI+ persons in the cybersecurity workforce; recognizing how technologies are misused to proliferate online harassment, exploitation, and abuse; and prioritizing partnerships, such as the Global Partnership, and the Freedom Online Coalition, to advance common cybersecurity interests.
       

Prioritizing technology-facilitated gender-based violence in the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to GBV Globally. In December 2022, the Administration released an updated U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally, which bolsters U.S. commitments to prevent and address this global scourge, including a specific objective to prevent and respond to technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

Biden Administration, Democracy

FACT SHEET: Biden Administration’s Abiding Commitment to Democratic Renewal at Home and Abroad

Voting, Long Island, NY. The Biden Administration reviewed actions it has taken over the past two years to bolster democratic governance at home and abroad, which President Biden has called “the defining challenge of our time.” © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The White House provided this fact sheet reviewing efforts by the Biden Administration to bolster democratic governance at home and abroad, which President Biden has called “the defining challenge of our time.”

President Biden has called the struggle to bolster democratic governance at home and abroad the defining challenge of our time. That is because democracy—transparent and accountable government of, for, and by the people—remains the best way to realize lasting peace, prosperity, and human dignity.
 
Internationally, the United States continues to strengthen democratic resilience and respect for human rights through both new and existing initiatives.  In Fiscal Years 2022, 2023, and 2024, the United States has invested and aims to provide approximately $9.5 billion, working with Congress and subject to the availability of appropriations, to support democracy, human rights, and good governance globally.
 
At the first Summit for Democracy held in December 2021, President Biden launched the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, an expansion of U.S. Government efforts to defend and grow democratic resilience with like-minded partners through diplomacy and foreign assistance. These efforts center on five areas of work crucial to the functioning of transparent, accountable governance:  advancing technology for democracy, supporting free and independent media, fighting corruption, bolstering human rights and democratic reformers, and defending free and fair elections.
 
On March 29, the United States is announced up to $690 million in new funding for the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal through Fiscal Year 2024, working with Congress and subject to the availability of appropriations. As part of the Presidential Initiative, the U.S. Government is also announcing a groundbreaking new suite of policy initiatives intended to advance technology that works for, and not against, democratic societies.   
  
At home, the Biden-Harris Administration has produced historic progress for the American people, proving that democracy delivers a stronger, fairer society that leaves no one behind. Under President Biden’s leadership, the economy has added more than 12 million jobs. The unemployment rate has fallen to 3.6 percent.. The Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to give families more breathing room, including cutting prescription drug costs, health insurance premiums, and energy bills, while driving the uninsured rate to historic lows. It has invested in rebuilding America’s infrastructure, delivering safe roads, clean water, and high-speed Internet to communities across the country. And it is taking the most aggressive action ever to tackle the climate crisis, investing in American innovation and industries that will define the future, and fueling a manufacturing boom that is creating good jobs for workers in parts of the country that have long been left behind.  At the same time, the Biden-Harris Administration has continued to restore and strengthen the United States’ democratic institutions, including by protecting the right to vote and the civil rights of all Americans.
 
Advancing Technology for Democracy at Home and Abroad

  • The U.S. Government is committed to advancing a positive vision for the Internet and the digital ecosystem; countering the misuse of technology and stemming the tide of digital authoritarianism; and shaping emerging technologies to ensure respect for human rights and democratic principles. At the Summit, the Administration will announce an ambitious slate of new efforts to ensure that technology strengthens democracy.

Promoting Democratic Renewal Abroad

  • Supporting Free and Independent Media. To help mitigate the existential threat to the survival of independent media, USAID via its Media Viability Accelerator is partnering with Microsoft and Internews to create a new, web-based data platform that will enable media outlets to better understand the markets, audiences, and strategies that will maximize their odds of profitability. Additionally, USAID will provide up to $16 million for the Promoting Information Integrity and Resilience Initiative (ProInfo), which will strengthen information integrity globally by advancing international cooperation and private-public-civic partnerships. 
     
  • Fighting Corruption. In complement to the ongoing work at the U.S. Department of the Treasury to unmask shell companies by requiring them to report information about their beneficial owners, today the U.S. government and over two dozen foreign partners announced the Summit for Democracy Commitment on Beneficial Ownership and Misuse of Legal Persons. The Beneficial Ownership Commitment pledges endorsees to enhancing beneficial ownership transparency so as to make it more difficult for corrupt actors to conceal their identities, assets, and criminal activities through the misuse of opaque corporate structures and legal persons.
     
  • Bolstering Human Rights and Democratic Reformers.
     
    • Through the Partnerships for Democratic Development and the Democracy Delivers Initiative, USAID is surging support to countries experiencing democratic breakthroughs by helping reformist leaders show that democracy is delivering concrete benefits to their people. Since the first Summit for Democracy, the Development Finance Corporation has committed more than $1 billion to help consolidate democratic progress in eight countries on which USAID is focusing the latter effort.
       
    • USAID is creating a first-ever Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance to expand and modernize its support for democracy around the world, implement much of the Presidential Initiative, and further infuse democracy, human rights, and good governance considerations across the Agency’s foreign policy and development work.
       
    • In coordination with the Department of State, the Department of Defense is piloting a program to reduce gaps for women’s participation in partner nation defense and security forces by better incorporating this imperative into security cooperation with its partners.
       
  • Defending Free and Fair Elections.  Following a commitment made at the first Summit for Democracy, USAID has convened the world’s leading election assistance organizations in the Global Network for Securing Election Integrity, to align on standards and practices for supporting clean elections.  It is also issuing a Guide to USAID Electoral Assistance for the 21st Century to highlight the tenets of transparent, politically neutral, technically rigorous electoral assistance, in contrast to the covert and partisan electoral interference of malign foreign actors.   

Advancing Democratic Renewal at Home

  • Protecting the Right to Vote in Free, Fair, and Secure Elections.
    • President Biden has repeatedly and forcefully called on Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act to eliminate discrimination in voting and ensure access to the ballot box for all eligible voters. Until that critical legislation is secured, the Biden-Harris Administration will use every tool at its disposal to protect the right to vote. The Department of Justice has doubled the number of staff dedicated to enforcing voting rights laws, and the President’s FY 2024 Budget provides an increase of $62 million to further strengthen the Department’s Civil Rights Division. The Budget also includes $5 billion to help state and local jurisdictions strengthen our election infrastructure by supporting sustained investment in election equipment, systems, and personnel. Agencies continue to implement the President’s Executive Order directing an all-of-government effort to promote access to voting.
       
    • In January 2023, President Biden signed into law the Electoral Count Reform Act, which establishes clear guidelines for our system of certifying and counting electoral votes for President and Vice President. This Act aims to preserve the will of the people and to protect against attempts to overturn our elections, like the attempt that led to the January 6 insurrection.
       
    • The Federal Election Commission took a major step to increase transparency in digital campaigning by finalizing a rule expanding the political advertising disclaimer requirements. These requirements previously applied mainly to traditional print and broadcast; this rule explicitly addresses ads placed for a fee on another person’s website, digital device, application, or advertising platform. Effective March 1, digital political ads must now disclose the entity paying for them.
       
  • Advancing Equity and Racial Justice and Protecting the Rights of All Americans.
    • Through the implementation of landmark legislation and historic executive action, the Biden-Harris Administration is working to make real the promise of America for everyone—including rural communities, communities of color, Tribal communities, LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, women and girls, and communities impacted by persistent poverty. To strengthen the federal government’s equity mandate, in February, President Biden signed a second Executive Order further advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government. This Executive Order launches a new annual, government-wide process to address the barriers underserved communities face in benefitting from Federal policies, programs, and activities. It also requires agencies to improve their community engagement and seek more input from communities about the policies that impact them. Consistent with this charge, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is developing new tools and guidance to broaden public engagement in the regulatory process.
       
    • In a healthy democracy, the criminal justice system must protect the public and ensure fair and impartial justice for all. To advance these mutually reinforcing goals, President Biden urges Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to advance accountability, transparency, and public trust in law enforcement. In May 2022, the President issued an Executive Order on effective and accountable policing and criminal justice practices that, among other things, requires federal law enforcement agencies to ban chokeholds; restrict no-knock warrants; mandate the use of body-worn cameras; provide de-escalation training; submit officer misconduct records into a new national database; and restrict the transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies. The President’s Executive Order also established a new interagency Alternatives and Reentry Committee to safely reduce unnecessary criminal justice system interactions, improve rehabilitation, and support formerly incarcerated individuals’ successful reentry into society while addressing existing disparities in our Nation’s criminal justice systems.
       
    • In September, President Biden held the United We Stand Summit, the first-ever White House Summit to address the hate-fueled violence that threatens our public safety and democracy. At the Summit, the White House announced an historic package of new actions the federal government and all sectors of society will take to foster national unity and counter hate and toxic polarization. The President also established an interagency group to increase and better coordinate U.S. Government efforts to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination within the United States—the group’s first order of business is to develop a national strategy to counter antisemitism. The President has also taken historic action to reduce gun violence, including by signing into law the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years and taking more executive action to reduce gun violence that any other president at this point in the presidency.
       
    • President Biden has taken historic actions to advance full equality for LGBTQI+ Americans. The President championed and signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, safeguarding marriage equality for LGBTQI+ and interracial couples. The President has expanded rights and protections for transgender Americans. He has also worked to advance opportunity and dignity for LGBTQI+ children and families by: taking on the discredited practice of so-called “conversion therapy;” strengthening resources and protecting for LGBTQI+ children in America’s public schools; and improving the federal government’s collection of data related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
       
    • Ensuring all people—regardless of their gender—are able to participate fully and equally in civic and political life is a foundational tenet of stable democracies. The Biden-Harris Administration is implementing the National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, including making progress towards ensuring all people can live free from violence by signing into law the strengthened and reauthorized Violence Against Women Act and historic military justice reform. The President has also advanced protections and equity in the workplace, including through Executive Orders to advance pay equity for federal employees and employees of federal contractors, and by signing into law important protections for pregnant and nursing workers. The President has issued two Executive Orders and a Presidential Memorandum to protect access to reproductive health care services, including abortion, in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, and to defend a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.
       
    • President Biden has prioritized relationships with Tribal Nations that are built on respect for Tribal sovereignty and self-governance, honoring federal trust and treaty responsibilities, protecting Tribal homelands, and conducting regular, meaningful, and robust consultation. The President’s economic agenda includes historic levels of funding specifically for Tribal communities and Native people, including $32 billion in the American Rescue Plan (ARP), $13 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and $700 million in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
       
  • Bolstering Democratic Institutions, Promoting Civic Participation, and Improving Public Engagement with Government.
    • The Administration is leveraging the power of national service and volunteerism to bring together Americans from different backgrounds to serve their communities and country in common purpose. The President’s FY 2024 Budget includes a $166 million increase for AmeriCorps to raise the living allowance it provides its members to make national service more accessible.
       
    • President Biden believes that all Americans should have the opportunity to learn about our democratic process and our nation’s rich history—including both our triumphs and the times we have failed to live up to our founding ideals. The 2023 omnibus appropriations package tripled federal investment in civics education, and President Biden is building on this progress by including an additional $50 million to help students understand the U.S. Constitution and how our system of Government works and build the skills—including media and digital literacy skills—required to fully participate in civic life.
       
    • A free and independent press is critical to our democracy. In October 2022, Attorney General Garland announced significant revisions to the Justice Department’s regulations regarding obtaining information from, or records of, members of the news media. Under the new rules, only in extremely narrow circumstances will DOJ use compulsory legal process—like subpoenas and search warrants—when investigating media acting within the scope of newsgathering. The President’s FY 2024 Budget committed to working with the Congress to support independent local journalism to better inform Americans about the matters that impact their lives and hold the powerful accountable.
       
    • Strong and independent unions are an essential bulwark of democracies: They build solidarity across race, gender and other lines of difference to advance their members’ shared interests, elect leadership from their own ranks to give workers a voice, and serve as counter-weights to the economic and political power of Wall Street and large corporations. Earlier this month, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment released an update detailing agencies’ progress towards implementing more than 70 action items to support worker organizing and collective bargaining.
       

In December 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration released the U.S. Government’s Fifth Open Government National Action Plan to advance a more inclusive, responsive, and accountable government. The plan includes commitments to increase the public’s access to data to better advance equity, engage the public in the regulatory process, make government records more accessible to the public, counter corruption, and improve the delivery of government services and benefits.

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, Energy

FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Continues to Advance American Offshore Wind Opportunities

Two years of progress to catalyze a new clean energy industry, deliver for workers and communities, and protect biodiversity and ocean co-use. The White House provided this fact sheet:
 

Two years ago today, President Biden set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind electricity generation by 2030—enough to power more than 10 million American homes with clean energy, while creating good-paying jobs in the United States across manufacturing, shipbuilding, port operations, construction, and other sectors. Since then, the Biden-Harris Administration’s transformative actions have jumpstarted the offshore wind industry across the country.
 
Today at the International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum in Baltimore, White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi outlined ten ways the Administration is making progress toward the 2030 goal, and is on a path to 110 gigawatts by 2050. Building on two years of decisive action, today the Administration is making new announcements on offshore wind cost reduction pathways, innovation strategies, and more. Last year alone, American offshore wind investments tripled, with an additional $10 billion that spans across the nation—from factories in the heartland to coastal communities along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico. Through the President’s Investing in America agenda, more progress is ahead in the development of stronger supply chains, upgraded infrastructure, and a growing clean energy economy.    

In addition to expanding economic opportunities for American workers and communities, offshore wind deployment will strengthen the nation’s energy security, make the power grid more reliable while lowering costs, and reduce dangerous climate pollution. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to delivering these benefits by advancing offshore wind development responsibly, in partnership with states, Tribes, coastal communities, and a wide range of stakeholders, with data-driven decisions to protect marine ecosystems and promote ocean co-use.
 
The Administration is supporting offshore wind through actions across the Departments of the Interior, Energy, Commerce, Transportation, and other federal agencies, including these ten key ways:

  1. Wind Energy Areas off Every Coast: The Department of the Interior (DOI) released a first-ever offshore wind leasing strategy, which includes holding up to seven offshore wind lease sales by 2025. This strategy provides two crucial ingredients for success: more certainty for industry, and transparency for stakeholders and ocean users. As part of this strategy, DOI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held historic offshore wind lease sales in the New York Bight, Carolina Long Bay, and northern and central California. In support of potential lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, Central Atlantic, Gulf of Maine, and offshore Oregon, BOEM is partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on advanced spatial modeling to identify sites with the fewest conflicts and environmental impacts. President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act provides opportunities for offshore wind lease sales off the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and the U.S. Territories.
     
  2. Investing in Workers and Communities: To advance renewable development of the outer continental shelf, DOI has introduced innovative provisions to support workforce training and union-built projects, domestic supply chain development, and community benefit agreements—including with Tribes and stakeholder groups. The Department of Energy (DOE) has charted a path to grow and train an American workforce to fill tens of thousands of jobs across the offshore wind industry. Efforts to help more communities share in offshore wind opportunities include Department of Commerce economic development grants; BOEM collaborations to deliver benefits to disadvantaged communities; and DOE funding for social science and capacity building to help communities more effectively participate in and capture benefits from offshore wind energy development.
     
  3. Made in America Supply Chains: The Administration is working to swiftly implement the Inflation Reduction Act’s historic suite of clean energy tax credits, including a manufacturing tax credit to support U.S. production of offshore wind components such as blades, nacelles, towers, and foundations. To support specialized shipbuilding, the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) designated offshore wind vessels as the first category to receive priority for review through the Federal Ship Financing Program. DOE is providing a range of financial support to the offshore wind supply chain, including through the Loan Programs Office and the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, and working with industry and state partners to fill key gaps identified by the U.S. Offshore Wind Supply Chain Roadmap.
     
  4. Responsible and Efficient Permitting: DOI approved the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind projects, Vineyard Wind and South Fork Wind, both now under construction and being built by union labor. DOI and BOEM are on track to complete reviews of at least 16 project plans by 2025, representing more than 27 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy, and has proposed reforms to modernize this process and save $1 billion over 20 years. NOAA has advanced a range of environmental reviews, regulatory authorizations, and consultations to ensure protection of coastal and marine resources. Offshore wind is also a focus of the Administration’s Permitting Action Plan, bringing together federal agencies, White House offices, and the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council to promote efficient reviews guided by the best available science and Indigenous Knowledge.
     
  5. Transmission Planning and Buildout: To support the infrastructure needed to connect projects to the grid, DOE and BOEM have developed draft recommendations for an action plan on Atlantic offshore wind transmission, following a series of stakeholder convenings. A full action plan will follow, informed by the Administration’s Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study. Similar efforts are underway along the Pacific, with DOE using Inflation Reduction Act funds for a West Coast Offshore Wind Transmission Study. Both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act provide funding for grid upgrades that can support the offshore wind industry.
     
  6. Port Infrastructure Upgrades: With additional support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, MARAD awarded grants last year through the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) that included nearly $100 million for port projects that will advance offshore wind deployment—from staging and assembly facilities for turbine components to docks for specialized vessels. For Fiscal Year 2023, more than $660 million in PIDP funding is available for port-related infrastructure projects, which can include support for a range of clean energy opportunities. DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are advancing a West Coast Ports Strategy to support strategic planning for a collaborative port network to support installation, operation, and maintenance activities.  
     
  7. Floating Offshore Wind Targets: Deep-water areas that require floating platforms are home to two-thirds of America’s offshore wind energy potential, including along the West Coast and in the Gulf of Maine. To seize these opportunities, DOE launched the Floating Offshore Wind Shot aiming to reduce costs by more than 70% by 2035. DOE, DOI, and the Departments of Commerce and Transportation hosted an inaugural summit convening federal, state, Tribal, labor, industry, and community leaders to advance U.S. leadership, and DOE is advancing foundational science and prize competitions to accelerate breakthroughs. DOI set a goal to deploy 15 GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035—enough to power over five million American homes.
     
  8. Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership: President Biden brought together eleven East Coast governors to launch the Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership, with states working alongside the Administration to maximize the benefits of offshore wind development for workers and communities. With offshore wind leasing advancing beyond the Atlantic, both California and Louisiana joined the Partnership to collaborate with federal agencies and other states on priorities including building an American supply chain and skilled workforce for offshore wind.
     
  9. Innovation and Research: DOE, in partnership with other agencies, is supporting next-generation offshore wind technologies (including for advanced turbine manufacturing and project operations and maintenance), advancing innovative approaches to environmental monitoring and ocean co-use, and more. These research, development, demonstration, and deployment efforts are a key part of DOE’s new Department-wide strategy to support the Administration’s offshore wind goals, building on last year’s Offshore Wind Energy Strategies Report outlining initiatives to accelerate cost-effective, reliable U.S. offshore wind deployment.
     
  10. Cross-Cutting Efforts for Responsible Deployment: The Biden-Harris Administration is taking a holistic approach to advancing offshore wind in concert with other priorities. These cross-cutting efforts include the nation’s first Ocean Climate Action Plan, detailing offshore wind actions that are part of broader efforts to ensure a robust and sustainable ocean economy; the NOAA-BOEM draft joint strategy to protect and promote recovery of North Atlantic right whales while responsibly developing offshore wind energy; and a NOAA-BOEM joint strategy to mitigate impacts of offshore wind on NOAA Fisheries surveys in collaboration with other ocean users, including fishermen’s local ecological knowledge and Indigenous Knowledge. 
Biden Administration, Climate Change, Energy, Jobs, Manufacturing

FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Announces New Private and Public Sector Investments for Affordable Electric Vehicles

President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda is unleashing a manufacturing and clean energy boom and accelerating the production of affordable electric vehicles. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda is unleashing a manufacturing and clean energy boom and accelerating the production of affordable electric vehicles. The White House provided this fact sheet: 

As part of President Biden’s goal of having 50 percent of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030, the White House is announcing the first set of public and private commitments to support America’s historic transition to electric vehicles (EV) under the EV Acceleration Challenge. These commitments are part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to spur domestic manufacturing, strengthen supply chains, boost U.S. competitiveness and create good-paying jobs. Because of President Biden’s leadership and historic investments, electric vehicle sales have tripled and the number of publicly available charging ports has grown by over 40 percent since he took office. There are now more than three million EVs on the road and over 132,000 public EV chargers across the country.  
 
President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act adds and expands tax credits for purchases of new and used EVs—helping bring the benefits of clean energy to communities across the nation. The law also provides incentives to electrify heavy-duty vehicles like clean school buses, and includes support for the installation of residential, commercial, and municipal EV charging infrastructure. These incentives complement investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other federal initiatives that are spurring the domestic manufacturing of EVs and batteries and the development of a national EV charging network that provides access to low income and disadvantaged communities.  
 
These incentives will lower the cost of EVs and EV charging infrastructure; increase consumer demand and competition; promote equity and inclusion; and accelerate the growth of the EV market. The White House announced the EV Acceleration Challenge to bring a clean, safe, affordable, and reliable transportation future to Americans even faster.
 
Today, the Federal Government, as well as a number of companies and nonprofits including Prologis, First Student, Hertz, Amazon, Google, Rewiring America, and others, are announcing new commitments to expand EV fleets, increase consumer education, and grow the availability of EV charging.  
 
Today, the Federal Government is announcing: 

  • Federal agencies have already acquired 13,000 light- and medium-duty zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) in FY23—about four times the number of ZEVs acquired in FY22. President Biden’s Federal Sustainability Plan requires federal agencies to transition the largest fleet in the world to all electric by acquiring 100 percent light-duty ZEVs annually by 2027 and acquiring 100 percent medium- and heavy-duty ZEVs annually by 2035.  
     
  • Federal agencies are committing to deploy an additional 24,000 charging stations at Federal facilities by the next fiscal year, adding to the more than 5,000 charging stations already installed at Federal facilities nationwide. 
     
  • The Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuel Data Center is planning to add two new features to its Station Locator Tool that will help consumers charge their EVs quickly, affordably and conveniently. The tool will soon offer:
    • Charging cost: The cost to charge an EV at an individual charging station.
       
    • Charging speed: The charging speed or power output at the charger port level. 

 
ACCELERATING THE EV TRANSITION 
 
The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda has spurred public and private sector commitments to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. State and local governments are also leveraging federal funds to expand electrification of their vehicle fleets. These announcements build on the EV charging network expansion and manufacturing announcements highlighted by the White House in February, which will add more than 100,000 public chargers across the country. Announcements being spotlighted today fall into four categories: Consumer Education and Support, Tools and Resources, EV Fleet Expansion, and Community Charging: Commercial and Multifamily: 
 
Fleet Expansion 

  • First Student, a major supplier of school bus services, is committing to transition 30,000 fossil fuel-powered school buses to electric school buses by 2035. 
     
  • Cirba Solutions, a battery materials and management company, is committing to process end-of-life batteries and Gigafactory manufacturing scrap, creating enough battery-materials to equip 1,000,000 EVs by 2028. 
     
  • Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company, is committing to deploy the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE across all of its ride-hailing service territories this spring and retire its previous generation platform.  
     
  • Amazon is announcing it has rolled out over 3,000 electric delivery vehicles as part of its commitment to bring 100,000 electric delivery vehicles to the road by 2030.
     
  • Trane Technologies, a company focused on efficient and sustainable climate solutions for buildings, homes and transportation, is committing to transition 100 percent of its global fleet of more than 8,000 vehicles, including service vans and trucks, to all electric vehicles by 2030. 

Community Charging: Commercial and Multifamily  

  • Prologis, a major global developer and owner of logistics real estate with more than 3,400 properties in the US, is committing to make every new eligible Prologis development ready for EV charging and transition its U.S. maintenance vehicle fleet to 100 percent alternative fuel vehicles by 2030. 
     
  • Siemens is committing to install charging stations across the U.S. at its facilities and employees’ homes to support the electric conversion of its 10,000-vehicle fleet by 2030 and to set a requirement that 10% of parking spaces include EV charging stations at all new company facility construction projects. 
     
  • CALSTART, Forth, the Electrification Coalition, EVHybridNoire and peer national implementation partners are committing to launch the Charge@Work campaign and Electric Vehicle Adoption Leadership (EVAL) certification program in Fall 2023 which will engage over 50,000 employers\workplaces, representing hundreds of thousands of employees, with the end goal of catalyzing over 100,000 electric vehicle workplace charging stations. 
     
  • SWTCH, an EV charging provider, is committing to expand equitable access to EV charging in underserved communities by deploying over 20,000 EV chargers, the majority of which will serve multi-family buildings, by 2024.  
     
  • Rocky Mountain Institute is committing to launch a multi-family charging accelerator pilot in three states to scale multi-unit dwelling charging infrastructure financing and deployment nationwide in 2024. 

Consumer Education and Support 

  • Hertz is committing to substantially increase its electric vehicle rentals this year forecasting nearly two million EV rentals in 2023, approximately five times the number of EV rentals in 2022, and extending the electric vehicle experience to leisure and business travelers and rideshare drivers across the country.  
     
  • Consumer Reports is committing to delivering expert advice and unbiased information for people who are considering whether to make the shift to an electric vehicle through its new online tool called the Electric Vehicle Savings Finder. It provides detailed, up-to-date information about federal, state, and local EV purchase incentives available to consumers, specific to where they live. 
     
  • GreenLatinos, Hip Hop Caucus, Sierra Club, Clean Energy for America, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, Electric Transportation Community Development Corporation, National Religious Partnership for the Environment, Plug in America, Public Citizen, Union of Concerned Scientists, Electric Vehicle Association, League of Conservation Voters, Coltura, and the Natural Resources Defense Council are committing to launch Route Zero in April – a cross-country, relay style campaign highlighting the investments made in EV infrastructure and EV manufacturing around the country, focusing on how equitable EV deployment helps mitigate pollution harms. 
     
  • Sierra Club, Plug in America, the Electric Vehicle Association and EVHybridNoire are committing to host more than 300 events in 2023 to celebrate the shift to electric vehicles, including the opportunity to connect with EV drivers in their own communities, ask questions, and get behind the wheel to try EVs out. 
     
  • Mercedes-Benz is committing to launch “Electric Dream Days,” a new EV marketing campaign with retail events at dealerships and EV test drives in April 2023.   

Tools and Resources 

  • Rewiring America, a non-profit organization, is committing to launch an online personal electrification planner in 2023 with the initial goal of helping 100,000 homeowners and renters create roadmaps to electrify their homes and to choose electric vehicles and home chargers. 
     
  • Google is committing to provide up-to-date information about availability and coverage of tax credits across eligible passenger vehicles, through a new Search tool that incorporates federal guidance to surface eligible EV tax credits, alongside other critical information.
     
  • Plug in America, a non-profit organization, is committing to reach 250,000 consumers over the next year with PlugStar.com, its online EV information and shopping tool. 
     
  • Wells Fargo is releasing a new tool to support business leaders transitioning to electric vehicle fleets by modeling deployment that incorporates the cost of electrification, tax credits, cost savings, and environmental benefits. 
     
  • The American Public Transportation Association and the Edison Electric Institute are committing to develop and distribute a new resource for transit agencies to streamline their efforts to electrify their bus fleets.  

The EV Acceleration Challenge is accepting submissions on a rolling basis. The White House will be highlighting additional commitments soon including many more that were already submitted.
 
Organizations can submit a commitment on the EV Acceleration Challenge landing page.

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, Foreign Policy, Foreign Relations

FACT SHEET: $7 Billion in Private Sector and US Government Commitments to Promote Climate Resilience, Adaptation, and Mitigation across Africa

From the White House:

In Lusaka, Zambia, in response to Vice President Kamala Harris’s call for the private sector to promote and enhance climate resilience, adaptation and migration across Africa, the private sector made over $7 billion in new commitments. Additionally, the U.S. Government is announcing new federal funding and initiatives to expand access to climate information services and enhance climate resilience and adaptation. These new investments and initiatives will generate significant economic benefits while addressing African nations’ pressing needs resulting from the climate crisis, including food security challenges, by helping to lift-up over 116 million farmers and promote climate-smart agriculture. These announcements demonstrate America’s commitment to partnering with African people and governments, alongside the private sector, to help the continent meet its climate adaptation and resilience, clean-energy access, and just energy transition goals.
 
African nations have historically contributed relatively little to the climate crisis but are disproportionally harmed by its impacts. The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes that to address the climate crisis in Africa, we must work together, building new coalitions between the U.S. government, African governments, civil society, and the private sector.
 
Private Sector Investments
 
The Vice President, as part of her call for the private sector to promote climate resilience, adaptation, and mitigation across Africa, is announcing the following 27 private sector and philanthropic commitments to support farmers, climate-smart agriculture, sustainability, clean energy, and clean transportation.
 
Supporting Farmers and Climate-Smart Agriculture
 

  • Pula, an agricultural insurance and technology company, is responding to the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) Call to Action and has committed to increase their coverage to 100 million small holder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa by providing up to $20 billion in insurance coverage by 2026. The smallholder farmers pay $20 for $200 dollars of insurance coverage. Insuring previously uninsured farmers can generate a direct positive impact for farming households across Africa, helping to secure their livelihoods by protecting them against the risk of financial losses due to climate-related events.
     
  • Mastercard, a payment and technology company, is responding to the PREPARE Call to Action and has committed to increase access of its Community Pass platform to a total of 15 million farmers in Africa by 2027 to spur economic output and opportunity. Community Pass is a shared interoperable digital platform that provides a commercially sustainable approach to scaling service delivery and increasing access to critical services including healthcare, agriculture, and micro-commerce, for individuals in underserved, remote, and frequently offline communities. Community Pass enables farmers to command higher prices by facilitating increased access to buyers and creating greater price transparency. Community Pass also enables access to inputs, advisory, and other financial service providers. Together, these services improve a smallholder farmer’s agricultural practices, resulting in a more resilient, sustainable, and productive farming system.
     
  • SunCulture, an Africa-focused solar irrigation company, commits to mobilizing $100 million in private capital and $40 million in grant/subsidy funding to deploy smallholder farmer solar irrigation to address food security in Kenya by 2028. SunCulture expects to install 274,000 solar irrigation systems on smallholder farms, reaching nearly 1.1 million direct beneficiaries, creating 411,000 jobs, growing 7.1 million metric tons of food, and generating $5 billion of increased incomes for smallholder farmers.
     
  • One Acre Fund, an agricultural service provider to support African smallholder farmers in partnership with local governments, has committed to raise and invest a $100 million fund to help 1 million farmers plant one billion trees by 2030. Smallholder farmers plant trees to harvest branches and wood, improve the farm environment, and sequester carbon.
     
  • Touton SA, an agro-industrial actor, is leading a consortium expected to commit $79.2 million into sourcing sustainable cocoa by 2025 and benefit an estimated 150,000 Ghanaians. They are supported by Palladium through the Partnership for Forests (P4F) project, and will develop and pilot a landscape-wide governance model in Juaboso-Bia landscape to promote sustainable and deforestation-free cocoa production while protecting forests earmarked as a hotspot intervention area. 
  • AlphaTalentsAfrica (ATA), an investment company supporting agribusiness ecosystems in Africa, has committed $50 million in agrifood industry investments in Africa over the next 20 years. ATA has committed $9 million for its first investment from the $50 million in a manufacturer of quinine-based ingredients for the beverage industry and of medicinal plant-based pharmaceutical products headquartered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
  • AgDevCo, a specialist investor in African agribusiness, is investing $10 million in sustainable forestry through New Forests Company. New Forests Company is one of the leading forestry companies in East Africa, with more than 30,000 hectares of plantations in Uganda and Tanzania. The company also supports over 6,000 smallholder farmers through the company’s outgrower program. All timber is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, and the plantations sequester significant volumes of carbon, which will increase further as the company and outgrower forestry stands mature. 
  • Switch Bioworks, a living fertilizer company, has committed $10 million to create sustainable biofertilizers in Africa over the next three years. Successful biofertilizer has the potential to triple per-acre productivity at less than one-tenth the greenhouse gas emissions of synthetic fertilizer.
     
  • Agrinfo Company Limited, an aerial imagery and artificial intelligence company that helps farmers make informed crop decisions, has committed $2 million to create a network of 3,000 drone pilots to collect and analyze data that will help 1 million farmers in Africa by 2030.
     
  • Corteva, an agriscience company dedicated to agriculture, has committed $250,000 to support climate smart post-harvest solutions in Ethiopia for 230,000 smallholder farmers and recently committed $100,000 for research that is applying gene-editing techniques to create a parasite-resistant “smart” sorghum by 2025. These collaborations will increase the incomes and food security of smallholder farmers in Africa as the threats of climate change, pest, and disease continue to grow. 
  • Land O’ Lakes Venture 37, the non-profit international development affiliate of the member-owned agricultural cooperative, is working through the Dairy Nourishes Africa portfolio of projects, founded by the Chicago-based Global Dairy Platform and in partnership with the Boston-based Bain & Company. This unique 15-to-20-year public/private partnership will drive inclusive climate-smart economic development in the dairy sector of four East African countries, reaching more than 10 million resource-poor, opportunity-constrained stakeholders. The projects aim to feed 40,000 children daily and double the income of 250,000 commercial-oriented farmers in the next 10 years. 
  • McCormick, a global flavor company headquartered in the U.S., is responding to the PREPARE Call to Action, and through its Grown for Good framework, is investing in the resilience of over 30,000 farmers across their supply chains. They have set an ambitious 100% sustainable sourcing goal for their top five branded ingredients for 2025 and have already achieved 100% sustainability for their vanilla supply chain sourced from Madagascar.

 
Spurring Sustainability, Clean Energy, and Clean Transportation

  • African Parks, a non-profit conservation organization that rehabilitates and manages national parks in partnership with governments and local communities across Africa, has committed to increase its management of 8 new parks by 2030, taking their number to 30. To meet this 30 Parks by 2030 goal, African Parks is committing to raise and invest an additional $1.25 billion in Africa over the next 7 years. This will include a mix of already raised funds in addition to future fundraising.
     
  • Cambridge Industries Ltd (CIL), an engineering, design, procurement, and construction firm focused on renewable energy projects throughout Africa, has committed $950 million to decarbonizing waste management in Kinshasa, anchored by four Waste-to-Value Industrial Parks for the Circular Economy. The universal waste management project, which will utilize anaerobic digesters for waste-to-energy and high-quality recycling scheme is expected to provide waste collection and disposal services to over 3.5 million households, electricity to 400,000 households, and create employment opportunities for more than 35,000 residents by 2030. 
  • ABD Group, a project development firm focused on Africa, commits to finance and operationalize an electrification project with Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) by expanding two combined cycle gas power projects to produce 900 MW of electricity through new power plants to expand energy access in a project valued at $800 million dollars. ABD Group has also developed and secured financing to build five wastewater treatment plants in Cote d’Ivoire valued at $52 million. Construction will start in the second quarter of 2023 on five wastewater treatment plants and a pumping station. This will bring wastewater treatment to social housing communities and benefit a projected 40,000 households. 
  • Combustion Associates Inc (CAI), a power plant equipment supplier company specializing in gas turbine power generation packages, has committed to $600 million to reduce vented greenhouse gas emissions through their Flare Gas Elimination Program in Nigeria by 2025. 
  • SAGLEV Inc, a vehicle assembly, manufacturing, and distributing company, is committing $600 million in electric vehicle assembly plants for Ghana – with service to Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, and South Africa by 2027. This will create 150 direct jobs and up to 25,000 indirect jobs by 2027. 
  • The Emissions Capture Company (ECCO), an emissions management platform utilizing AI-driven solutions that recycle industrial emission and waste into valuable compounds to support the green economy, commits at least $550 million to reduce emissions and plastic waste from Nestlé sites in Africa between 2023 and 2029 by deploying its proprietary technology that gathers emissions and plastic waste from industrial processes and converts it into sodium bicarbonate and other materials. 
  • The Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution, will invest and mobilize $510 million for the initial $750 million first close of a $2 billion Infrastructure Climate Resilience Fund (ICRF) with a mission to incorporate climate risk in physical infrastructure built across the continent. The ICRF was launched last year and is focused on the following four sectors: Transport and Logistics, Power and Renewables, Telecoms and Digital Infrastructure, Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones. It is the first large-scale adaptation program of its kind, and it offers a unique opportunity to support sustainable development in Africa while mitigating the impacts of climate change through a blended finance approach to de-risk investment opportunities. 
  • CrossBoundary Energy, an investment firm, has committed $500 million to support clean energy solutions for African businesses over the next two years. According to World Bank data, access to reliable and affordable electricity is the most significant constraint on economic growth on the continent. CBE addresses this challenge by providing African corporations with fully financed renewable power. CBE expects to employ over 6,000 people and save African businesses between $6.5 and13 million annually in electricity costs. 
  • Wilderness, an ecotourism pioneer, and carbon offset developer Carbon Ark, have signed a partnership with the Zambian government that aims to protect millions of acres of threatened forest and “rewild” previously pristine areas of biodiversity damaged by human activity. The partnership seeks to empower local communities and expand the habitat for endangered wildlife through the implementation of a high-integrity carbon sequestration project. Carbon Ark anticipates that this partnership project will deploy over $500 million in operational investments and create over 1,000 community jobs. The partnership is also supported by U.S. impact investing firm TPG Rise, Bank of America and Jet Blue Ventures through Rubicon Carbon.
     
  • C1 Ventures, a climate technology investment fund focused on decarbonizing large-scale industries by applying breakthrough technologies, has partnered with other investors to commit $250 million in biomanufacturing in Africa over the next four years. The stealth company, backed by C1 Ventures, will employ a gas-based precision fermentation technique to create animal feed protein and biodegradable plastics using captured CO2 and CH4 gases from concentrated natural and industrial sources.
     
  • Coalition for Climate Entrepreneurship (CCE), which includes the Gaia Africa Climate Fund, MassChallenge, Village Capital, SVG’s Thrive Africa, and additional partners, commits over $200 million to identify and support emerging sustainability entrepreneurs in Africa, including by helping scale their innovations to global markets.
     
  • Roam, an electric vehicle company from Kenya, is aiming to raise and invest over the next eight years $150 million to scale up affordable electric motorcycles and public transit solutions that have been uniquely designed to offer a clean transport solution for emerging market consumers and result in economic benefits for micro-entrepreneurs and commuters. Roam’s plan will reduce CO2 emissions while creating 300 direct jobs and more than 24,000 indirect jobs by 2026 with a gender inclusive recruitment strategy.
     
  • Vista Bank Group, a financial service holding company with the objective to build a world-class pan-African financial institution, commits $100 million to be invested toward sustainability initiatives over the next year, such as renewable energy projects and reforestation programs on the African continent. This commitment will help ensure that investments support a resilient economy and deliver financial returns while generating positive value for society and operating within environmental constraints. 
  • World Economic Forum (WEF), an independent international non-government organization, is publicly announcing $18.2 million of recently committed dollars from its Global Plastic Action Partnership (a consortium of public and private sector partners) towards plastic pollution reduction in Ghana through the Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership (their national platform for multistakeholder collaboration). This commitment will support Ghana in transitioning to a circular plastics economy. 
  • Transvolt Energy Systems Limited, a clean energy storage company, is committed to raising $10 million to establish a lithium battery assembly plant in Africa by 2024. This manufacturing facility will increase access to clean energy, reduce the cost of local clean energy installations, generate secondary markets based on refurbished batteries, and create 1,200 direct and indirect job opportunities.

U.S. Government Commitments
 
To further accelerate the implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), which aims to help more than half a billion people in developing countries adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change this decade, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing the following initiatives in recognition of the critical urgency of building climate resilience across the African continent. These announcements build on the bilateral climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation announcements the Vice President made in Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia.
 
Expanding Access to Climate Information Services
 

  • The GEOGlows Streamflow Forecasting Service. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is committed to continuing its leadership role as part of the Group on Earth Observations Global Water Sustainability Initiative (GEOGloWS), which provides reliable 15-day forecasts and 50 years of historical streamflow data for every river in the world through a free and open web service. Over the next five years, the United States, including NOAA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), together with other partners will commit $1.5 million to enhance GEOGloWS service implementation in Tanzania, Botswana and Kenya, building on earlier success in Malawi. GEOGloWS will work directly with partner countries on implementation, including capacity development workshops with user organizations. Through its support for the GEOGloWS European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Streamflow Forecasting Service, NOAA contributes to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Executive Action Plan to deliver Early Warning for All by 2027. 
  • Expanding Weather Station Networks in Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) will commit nearly $10 million in weather stations and capacity building to use and maintain them over the next five years with 10 African governments, beginning with Kenya. These partnerships will support governments to develop or fortify the capability to report weather station data and integrate this information with Earth observations to improve climate, weather, and acute food insecurity forecasts. USAID’s investment in these services will also benefit other sectors such as health; agriculture; water, sanitation and hygiene; and climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction; thereby helping to save lives and livelihoods. This expansion of FEWS NET will help the region and the international community to monitor our rapidly changing climate and support early warning systems for climate hazards and acute food insecurity. 
  • YouthMappers. A Global Mapping Response for African Development.  With support from the USAID’s GeoCenter, young people in 70 countries from more than 350 universities are applying geospatial technology to assist with humanitarian outcomes and to help solve international development challenges related to poverty, disease, and climate change. Through its YouthMappers program, USAID will invest $600,000 to empower more than 5,000 university students around the world to map communities in African countries using earth observations and satellite data. The new data will be used to address health, food security, energy security, disaster response, and resilience in local communities.  
  • FEWS NET Health Threat Extension. Through the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Health Threat Extension (HTE) pilot activity, overseas USAID Missions in Somalia and Mozambique will explore and address climate-sensitive health threats that generate cross-sectoral impacts. Each Mission will take an interdisciplinary approach to incorporating local health, climate, earth system, and social science data and information. These projects will leverage and enhance existing data systems to advance evidence-based health threat early warning systems. The projects will support evidence-based decision-making, prevention, and planning surrounding forecast health threats and their relationship to food and water insecurity and other development challenges.

 
Enhancing Climate Resilience and Adaptation

  • Energy Access and Climate Resilience. The U.S. Africa Development Fund (USADF) has committed up to $1.5 million in grant funding in FY23 for new and expanded USADF Off-grid Energy Challenges. The areas in which the Challenges will focus include healthcare facilities electrification, energy for agriculture, women in energy, productive use of energy, and innovative energy solutions that will support African governments goals of increasing energy access and improve the standard of living in unserved and underserved communities in Africa. This program will support energy for agriculture, women in energy, and healthcare facilities electrification. 
  • U.S.-Africa Climate Innovation Week. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will advance the development of climate resilience and adaptation projects in Africa by hosting a U.S.-Africa Climate Innovation Week in the United States for leaders from across the continent. This partnership-building engagement will include parallel reverse trade missions to multiple U.S. cities, to showcase innovative American technologies, services and best practices that can benefit Africa’s infrastructure for water management, and early warning and emergency management systems.
Biden Administration, Foreign Policy, Foreign Relations

FACT SHEET: Biden Submits to Congress 10-Year Plans to Implement US Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability

From the White House:

The U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability is a long-term initiative to redefine how the United States prevents violence and advances stability in areas vulnerable to conflict.  Under the bipartisan Global Fragility Act, the U.S. government is implementing this Strategy through 10-year plans developed with extensive consultations with local stakeholders in our priority partner countries and region: Haiti, Libya, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, and the Coastal West Africa countries of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo.  The U.S. government is investing resources, including through the Prevention and Stabilization Fund, to bolster these country and region-specific plans. 
 
In line with the vision and goals of this landmark Act, the Strategy and resulting plans seek to break the costly cycle of instability and promote peaceful, resilient nations that become strong economic and security partners.  The work ahead focuses on four goals:  prevention, stabilization, partnerships, and management.  These plans embody an integrated, whole-of-government approach that seeks to harness the full range of U.S. tools across new and existing diplomatic, defense, and development programs.  Through partnerships, analysis, and adaptive learning, the Strategy and these plans aim to address drivers of conflict with a long-term view to support partner countries’ efforts to forge a more peaceful future. 

  • Partnerships:  The Strategy and these plans reflect a commitment to innovate how the U.S. government works with partners to advance shared interests in conflict prevention and stabilization.  They were developed through leadership from the field and emphasize forging partnerships at the national and local levels.
     
  • Analysis:  In the development of these plans, the United States recognized and assessed a diverse set of resiliencies and challenges.  The plans outline an initial assessment of complex and multifaceted drivers of violence and instability and will rely on data-informed analysis throughout their implementation.
     
  • Learning:  Over the long term, the United States will utilize rigorous monitoring and evaluation to document lessons learned and guide decisions.  The tools used will provide information to further assess progress towards key milestones while informing programmatic changes and strategic pivots.

Country and Region Partnerships
The United States is advancing this Strategy through increased engagement and partnerships in the priority partner countries and region.  U.S. government interagency teams conducted broad-ranging consultations with national and local leaders, including women, youth, and civil society members, to guide these planned partnerships.  On March 24, 2023, President Biden transmitted to Congress 10-year plans for advancing our joint efforts, including by aligning and expanding resources for conflict prevention and stabilization.  Specifically:

  • In Coastal West Africa, the United States aims to work with partners at all levels to prevent the destabilizing expansion of terrorism and violent extremism.  The United States is pursuing an integrated approach to governance and security in support of African-led initiatives and aligning our efforts with the plans of national governments, which take a holistic approach to mitigating conflict risks and vulnerabilities and strengthening social cohesion.
     
  • In Haiti, the United States aims to foster stabilization in communities impacted by violence while systematically addressing underlying drivers of conflict over time and mitigating the impact of future climate shocks.  The United States aims to build on mechanisms for consultations with a broad range of Haitian stakeholders to support locally driven peace and stability.
     
  • In Libya, the United States is focusing on laying the groundwork for an elected national government capable of governing, providing services, and maintaining security throughout the country.  The United States is pursuing a flexible, adaptive approach focused on community-level programs that can be scaled up as opportunities arise to support national elections; access to security, justice, accountability, and reconciliation; and pre-disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration efforts. 
     
  • In Mozambique, the United States supports the national government’s plans to promote reconciliation, inclusive and sustainable development, and resilience in historically marginalized and conflict-affected areas.  This includes efforts to counter vulnerabilities to terrorism, bolster recovery from its impacts, and address the root causes of instability in the north.  The United States aims to help the government and local partners foster pathways for inclusive economic growth to increase employment, especially among young Mozambicans.
     
  • In Papua New Guinea, U.S. efforts will reinforce our growing Pacific partnerships with a key country of the Pacific Islands.  We will seek to strengthen communities’ capacity to prevent and respond to chronic violence and conflict; support inclusive, sustainable, and equitable economic growth; improve justice systems; and professionalize the security forces.  This includes a focus on helping Papua New Guinean partners advance gender equity and equality, prevent and respond to gender-based violence, and elevate women peacebuilders.

Across these efforts, the U.S. government is investing heavily in monitoring, evaluation, learning, and adaptation.  U.S. government departments and agencies are better integrating U.S. diplomatic, development, and defense tools and enabling more effective, accountable partnerships.  Through these plans, the U.S. government will deepen engagement with key stakeholders in partner countries, as well as with civil society, multilateral and regional organizations, the private sector, and likeminded countries that are also engaged in addressing drivers of conflict in these priority countries and region.
 
For more information on our work to implement the Strategy, please visit this dedicated website.
 

“These plans represent a meaningful, long-term commitment by the United States to building the political and economic resilience of partner societies by making strategic investments in prevention to mitigate the underlying vulnerabilities that can lead to conflict and violence and are critical to achieving lasting peace.”   – President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Protection, Joe Biden, President Joe Biden

FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Takes New Actions to Conserve and Restore America’s Lands and Waters

President Establishes New National Monuments in Nevada and Texas; Directs Secretary of Commerce to Consider Expanding Protections for Pacific Remote Islands Which Would Reach Goal of Conserving 30% of U.S. Ocean by 2030

House on Fire, Bears Ears National Monument. During his first year in office, President Biden protected more lands and waters than any president since John F. Kennedy, including by restoring protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments.  Last year, President Biden designated his first new national monument, Camp Hale-Continental Divide in Colorado and most recently, he established two new national monuments: Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and Castner Range National Monument in Texas. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

At the White House Conservation in Action Summit on March 21, President Biden announced major new actions to conserve and restore lands and waters across the nation, including by establishing Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and Castner Range National Monument in Texas. The President also directed the Secretary of Commerce to consider exercising her authority to protect all U.S. waters around the Pacific Remote Islands. These new commitments build on President Biden’s historic climate and environmental record, including delivering on the most ambitious land and water conservation agenda in American history.  

The announcements include:

  • Establishing two new national monuments: Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and Castner Range National Monument in Texas. The designation of these two national monuments demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protect historically and culturally significant areas and conserve our nation’s treasured outdoor spaces. Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada will honor Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples while conserving our public lands and growing America’s outdoor recreation economy. In Texas, Castner Range National Monument will expand access to the outdoors for the El Paso community while honoring our nation’s veterans and servicemembers. Together, these new national monuments protect nearly 514,000 acres of public lands.
     
  • Protecting all U.S. waters around the Pacific Remote Islands. The President directed the Secretary of Commerce to consider initiating a new National Marine Sanctuary designation within the next 30 days to protect all U.S. waters around the Pacific Remote Islands. If completed, the new sanctuary would ensure the U.S. will reach the President’s goal of conserving at least 30% of ocean waters under American jurisdiction by 2030.
     
  • New actions to conserve, restore, and expand access to lands and waters. The Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a series of new steps to conserve, restore, and expand access to lands and waters across the country. These include a proposal to modernize the management of America’s public lands, a plan to harness the power of the ocean to fight the climate crisis, a strategy to better conserve wildlife corridors, and new funding to improve access to outdoor recreation, promote Tribal conservation, reduce wildfire risk, and more.

These actions build on more than two years of the Biden-Harris Administration’s progress and historic investments to advance conservation, restoration, and stewardship nationwide:

  • During his first year in office, President Biden protected more lands and waters than any president since John F. Kennedy, including by restoring protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments. Last year, President Biden designated his first new national monument, Camp Hale – Continental Divide in Colorado.
     
  • Thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden has, over his first two years in office, invested over $10 billion in conservation initiatives – more than any other modern president.
     
  • Under the President’s leadership, the Administration is making unprecedented investments in land, water, and wildlife conservation, including by launching the $1 billion America the Beautiful Challenge. These investments will help meet the President’s goal – set during his first week in office – of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
     
  • The Biden-Harris Administration has protected nationally-significant lands and waters across the country, including recent actions to restore protections for roadless areas of the Tongass National Forest, prevent future oil and gas leasing in the entire U.S. Arctic Ocean, safeguard Bristol Bay in Alaska and the world-class salmon fishery it supports, and protect America’s most-visited wilderness area, the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. The Administration is also working to protect Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, the Thompson Divide in Colorado, and accelerating restoration efforts in the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, the Everglades, and the Columbia River Basin.

Establishing Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada

President Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. This designation will honor Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples by protecting this sacred Nevada landscape and its historically and scientifically important features, while conserving our public lands and growing America’s outdoor recreation economy.

Avi Kwa Ame is considered to be among the most sacred places on Earth by the Mojave, Chemehuevi, and some Southern Paiute people. It is also important to other Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples including the Cocopah, Halchidhoma, Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Kumeyaay, Maricopa, Pai Pai, Quechan, Yavapai, and Zuni Tribes. Its scenic peaks include Avi Kwa Ame (Spirit Mountain), which is designated as a Traditional Cultural Property on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its religious and cultural importance. The area is also home to the one of the world’s largest Joshua tree forests, and provides continuous habitat or migration corridors for species such as the desert bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, and Gila monster.

Establishing Castner Range National Monument in Texas

President Biden also signed a proclamation establishing the Castner Range National Monument, in El Paso, Texas. This action will protect the cultural, scientific, and historic objects found within the monument’s boundaries, honor our veterans, servicemembers, and Tribal Nations, and expand access to outdoor recreation on our public lands. 

Located on Fort Bliss, Castner Range served as a training and testing site for the U.S. Army during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The Army ceased training at the site and closed Castner Range in 1966. Once the area is sufficiently remediated to be safe for public access, Castner Range will offer unique opportunities for the El Paso community to experience, explore, and learn from nature. President Biden is committed to expanding access to nature for underserved communities that have historically had less access to our public lands, like those bordering Castner Range. Protecting Castner Range connects the area with the Franklin Mountains State Park, creating continuous habitat for wildlife and improved public access for outdoor recreation. Castner Range also hosts significant cultural sites documenting the history of Tribal Nations, including the Apache and Pueblo peoples and the Comanche Nation, Hopi Tribe, and Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.

Directing Consideration of a Sanctuary to Complete Protections for Waters Around the Pacific Remote Islands

Consistent with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to conserving 30% of lands and waters by 2030, the President signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Commerce to, using the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, consider initiating a sanctuary designation within the next 30 days to expand protections around the Pacific Remote Islands southwest of Hawaii. Such protections would encompass areas unaddressed by previous administrations so all areas of U.S. jurisdiction around the islands, atolls, and reef of the Pacific Remote Islands will be protected.

The potential new National Marine Sanctuary identified in the Memorandum would conserve 777,000 square miles, including the existing Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and currently unprotected submerged lands and waters. The region has a rich ancestral tie to many Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island communities. The process for a potential sanctuary designation would allow the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to further explore the area’s scientific, cultural, and ancestral linkages, and tailor its management accordingly.

The President is also directing the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a public process to work with regional Indigenous cultural leaders to appropriately rename the existing Pacific Remote Islands National Monument, and potentially the Islands themselves, to honor the area’s heritage, ancestral pathways, and stopping points for Pacific Island voyagers, and to provide posthumous recognition for young Native Hawaiian men sent to secure U.S. territorial claim to the islands in the run up to World War II.

New Federal and Other Actions to Conserve, Restore, and Expand Access to Lands and Waters

Ocean Climate Action Plan: The Ocean Policy Committee, co-chaired by the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is releasing the first-ever United States Ocean Climate Action Plan, a groundbreaking roadmap to harnesses the power of the ocean to advance immediate, transformational steps to protect ocean health and address the climate crisis. Acknowledging that there is no path to a healthy and livable climate without the ocean, the plan outlines new actions on the Administration’s ocean-climate priorities, including efforts to advance climate solutions, promote environmental justice, support healthy communities, and ensure a robust and sustainable ocean economy.

Wildlife Corridors Guidance: The White House Council on Environmental Quality is issuing new guidance to Federal agencies on how to better incorporate ecological connectivity and wildlife corridors into federal planning and decision-making. The guidance highlights the importance of connectivity across terrestrial, marine, and freshwater habitats, encouraging collaboration across management and ownership boundaries with states, Tribes, local governments, and private land owners. This helps deliver on one of the America the Beautiful Initiative’s six early focus areas – supporting collaborative conservation of fish and wildlife habitat and corridors.

Strengthening the Stewardship of America’s Public Lands: The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in the coming weeks is seeking public input on a proposed rule that will help update and modernize the agency’s tools and strategies for managing America’s public lands. With climate change imposing mounting impacts on the nation’s public lands, and the growing importance of public lands for recreation and conservation, the proposed rule would help ensure that the nation’s lands continue to provide abundant and well-connected wildlife habitat, supply clean drinking water, and power local economies.

New Partnership to Protect Military Readiness and Preserve Green Space: The Department of the Interior and the Department of Defense are partnering to allocate $80 million through a combination of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and matching funds from DoD’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program (REPI) to preserve green space around military installations and improve access to outdoor recreation for millions of Americans. The Departments will make the funding available to states through a competitive process that could support projects on Tribal, private, state, or local lands.

$100 Million Tribal Conservation Funding Pledge: Today, Native Americans in Philanthropy, in collaboration with Biodiversity Funders Group and 15 philanthropies, is launching the Tribal Nations Conservation Pledge with an initial commitment of more than $100 million. This is a new platform for philanthropic organizations to support the conservation work of Tribal Nations and public-private partnerships between the Biden-Harris Administration, Tribes, and philanthropy. The pledge calls on funders to commit to a self-determined amount of funding, or a self-determined percentage of annual programmatic funding, to support the biodiversity and conservation efforts of Tribes, inter-Tribal organizations, and Tribal consortia.

America the Beautiful 2022 Annual Report: The Biden-Harris Administration is releasing the 2022 America the Beautiful Annual Report, an update on progress made to support locally-led conservation and restoration efforts and meet the President’s goal to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

New Partnership to Accelerate the Conservation of At-Risk Species: The Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Alliance of Forest Owners and the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement Inc., will announce a memorandum of understanding which formalizes the Wildlife Conservation Initiative, a collaborative partnership focused on advancing the conservation of at-risk and listed species within private working forests nationwide. The announcement comes as the Department of the Interior celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act and highlights the landmark law’s importance in preventing imperiled species’ extinction, promoting the recovery of wildlife, and conserving the habitats upon which they depend. 

Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program: Soon the Federal Highway Administration and the Department of Transportation will open applications for the first-of-its-kind $350 million Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. The program will build infrastructure that is proven to improve roadway safety – particularly in rural communities – and bring down the roughly 200 deaths stemming from more than one million collisions every year between vehicles and wildlife.

Nearly $200 Million to Reduce Wildfire Risk to Communities: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service announced nearly $200 million in Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program grants to communities across the country. Funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CWDG program is designed to assist communities, including Tribal communities, non-profit organizations, state forestry agencies and Alaska Native corporations with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks to communities and critical infrastructure as the nation faces an ongoing wildfire crisis.

State Wildlife Grants: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is distributing over $56 million for state fish and wildlife agencies through the State Wildlife Grant Program to support conservation and stewardship efforts for imperiled wildlife and their habitats.  

Boating Infrastructure Grants: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is distributing over $20 million in grant funding to assist states and territories in the construction, renovation and maintenance of marinas and other boating facilities for outdoor recreation. Grants will support projects in 20 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to increase outdoor recreation access and waterway stewardship.  

Pactola Reservoir Protection: The U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management announced actions to consider protections for cultural and natural resources in the Pactola Reservoir – Rapid Creek Watershed in South Dakota, including drinking water for Rapid City and Ellsworth Air Force Base, from the adverse impacts of mineral exploration and development. The Pactola Reservoir is the largest and deepest reservoir in the Black Hills National Forest, with 14 miles of shoreline and 150-foot depths on 800 acres and provides high quality recreation for communities and visitors

Biden Administration, Joe Biden, President Joe Biden

Springsteen, Vera Wang, Gladys Knight Among Recipients of National Medals of Arts, Humanities

On Tuesday, March 21st, President Biden will host an East Room ceremony at the White House to present the 2021 National Humanities Medals and the 2021 National Medals of Arts. First Lady Jill Biden will attend the ceremony as well.

The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists, arts patrons, and groups by the United States Government and honors exemplary individuals and organizations that have advanced the arts in America and offered inspiration to others through their distinguished achievement, support, or patronage. The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects.

The President previously awarded a National Humanities Medal to Sir Elton John in September 2022, during a White House event, “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme.”

Here is the list of 2021 recipients:

2021 National Medal of Arts Recipients

Judith Francisca Baca: Judith Francisca Baca’s collaborative work has turned forgotten histories into public memory—pioneering an art form that empowers communities to reclaim public space with dignity and pride.

Fred Eychaner: From dance and architecture to arts education and a lifetime of LGBTQI+ advocacy, Fred Eychaner has helped give millions of people strength to be themselves and moved our country forward.

Jose Feliciano: Over 60 years, 60 albums, and 600 songs, Jose Feliciano has opened hearts and built bridges—overcoming obstacles, never losing faith, and enriching the goodness and greatness of the Nation.

Mindy Kaling: Imbued with humor and heart, Mindy Kaling’s work across television, film, and books inspires and delights—capturing and uplifting the experiences of women and girls across our Nation.

Gladys Knight: Gladys Knight’s exceptional talent influenced musical genres—from rhythm and blues to gospel to pop—and inspired generations of artists, captivated by her soundtrack of a golden age in American music. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: As one of the most decorated comedic actors of our time, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has blazed a trail for women in comedy and across American life through her commitment to excellence and the power of her example.

Antonio Martorell-Cardona: Transcending generation and genre, Antonio Martorell-Cardona’s art exposes hard truths with whimsy and color, to help us remember and grow, as people and as a Nation.

Joan Shigekawa: Throughout her career, Joan Shigekawa has championed artists, created global exchanges, and promoted the power of the arts to heal, build strong economies, and help people and Nations reach their full potential.

Bruce Springsteen: One of our greatest performers and storytellers, Bruce Springsteen’s music celebrates our triumphs, heals our wounds, and gives us hope, capturing the unyielding spirit of what it means to be American.

Vera Wang: From the runway to red carpets to retail stores, Vera Wang’s modern designs and bridal collections express individualism and elegance, making beauty and style accessible to all.

The Billie Holiday Theatre: Channeling its namesake’s exploration of freedom and identity, The Billie Holiday Theatre cultivates some of our Nation’s most renowned Black actors, writers, designers, and musicians and has expanded the reach of American artistic expression and achievement.

The International Association of Blacks in Dance: Through teaching, training, and performance, The International Association of Blacks in Dance promotes dance by people of African ancestry and origin, explores and exchanges art, spans cultures and generations, and enriches the dance culture of America.

2021 National Humanities Medal Recipients

Richard Blanco: An award-winningpoet and author, professor and public speaker, and son of Cuban immigrants, Richard Blanco’s powerful storytelling challenges the boundaries of culture, gender, and class while celebrating the promise of our Nation’s highest ideals.

Johnnetta Betsch Cole: A scholar, anthropologist, and academic pace-setter, Johnnetta Betsch Cole’s pioneering work about the on-going contributions of Afro-Latin, Caribbean, and African communities have advanced American understanding of Black culture and the necessity and power of racial inclusion in our Nation.

Walter Isaacson: Through the stories of our Nation’s remarkable citizens, Walter Isaacson’s work, words, and wisdom bridge divides between science and the humanities and between opposing philosophies, elevating discourse and our understanding of who we are as a Nation.

Earl Lewis: As a social historian and academic leader, Earl Lewis has made vital contributions to the field of Black history, educating generations of students, while also being a leading voice for greater diversity in academia and our Nation.

Henrietta Mann: The pioneering efforts of Henrietta, Ho’oesto’oona’e, Mann, led to programs and institutions across the country devoted to the study of Native American history and culture, honoring ancestors that came before and benefiting generations that follow.

Ann Patchett: With her best-selling novels and essays, and her bookstore, readers from around the world see themselves in the pages of Ann Patchett’s books that take people to places of the heart and feed the imagination of our Nation.

Bryan Stevenson: An advocate fighting tirelessly for the poor, incarcerated, and condemned, Bryan Stevenson follows the Book of Micah’s instruction to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly as he chronicles the legacy of lynching and racism in America, shining a light on what has been and all that we can be as a Nation.

Amy Tan: By bravely exploring experiences of immigrant families, heritage, memories, and poignant struggles, Amy Tan’s writing makes sense of the present through the past and adds ground-breaking narrative to the diverse sweep of American life and literature.

Tara Westover: Tara Westover’s memoirs of family, religion, and the transformative power of education, has moved millions of readers and served as a powerful example of how the humanities can set people—and a Nation—free.

Colson Whitehead: With genre-defying craftsmanship and creativity, Colson Whitehead’s celebrated novels make real the African-American journey through our Nation’s continued reckoning with the original sin of slavery and our ongoing march toward a more perfect Union.

Native America Calling: Through its interactive shows on the radio and online,Native America Calling educates the American public about Indigenous issues while preserving Indigenous history and culture to honor their contributions that strengthen the sacred Nation-to-Nation relationship.