{{Short description|Position within the White House Office}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}{{Use American English|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox Political Post | post = White House National Climate Advisor | body = | image = | incumbent = Vacant | incumbentsince = January 20, 2025 | department = [[Executive branch of the United States government|Executive Branch of the U.S. Government]]<br />[[Executive Office of the President]] | appointer = The [[President of the United States|president]] | deputy = Vacant | insignia = US-WhiteHouse-Logo.svg }} The '''White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy''' (also known as the '''Climate Policy Office or CPO''') was an office created in the Biden Administration within the [[White House Office]].. It was headed by the assistant to the president and national climate advisor (also known as the '''White House national climate advisor'''), which was the president's chief advisor on domestic climate change policy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biden Unveils His Climate Team, Promising To Fight 'With The Urgency It Demands'|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/12/19/948057498/watch-live-biden-introduces-his-climate-team|access-date=2020-12-19|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-18|title=President-elect Biden Announces Key Members of His Climate Team|url=https://buildbackbetter.gov/press-releases/president-elect-biden-announces-key-members-of-his-climate-team/|access-date=2020-12-19|website=President-Elect Joe Biden|language=en-US|archive-date=December 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218014108/https://buildbackbetter.gov/press-releases/president-elect-biden-announces-key-members-of-his-climate-team/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The National Climate Advisor served as ''vice-chair'' of the National Climate Task Force.
The CPO coordinate climate and environment policy, which differed from:
* The office of the [[White House Office on Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation|'''Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation''']], which led White House and government-wide '''Clean Energy Policy''' and the implementation of the '''[[Inflation Reduction Act]]''' and '''[[Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act|Bipartisan Infrastructure Law]];''' and chaired the National Climate Task Force;
* The previously established [[U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate|'''U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC)''']], who coordinated global climate policy; and * The '''[[Council on Environmental Quality]],''' which assesses [[Environmental impact assessment|environmental impacts]] within federal agencies.
== History == The Climate Policy Office has its roots in the [[White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy]], which was established under the [[Presidency of Barack Obama|administration]] of [[Barack Obama]] in 2008 but was folded into the [[United States Domestic Policy Council]] in 2011 after Congress refused to fund the office. [[Carol Browner]] served as the only director of this office. No equivalent office was established under the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|administration]] of [[Donald Trump]].
The position of the national climate advisor was established by President [[Joe Biden]] on January 20, 2021, and the Climate Policy Office was established on January 27. On December 14, 2020, it was announced that [[Gina McCarthy]], the former administrator of the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] under President [[Barack Obama]], would serve as the first national climate advisor, as well as chair of the National Climate Task Force.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biden To Name Gina McCarthy, Former EPA Chief, As Domestic Climate Coordinator|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/12/15/945937035/biden-to-name-gina-mccarthy-former-epa-chief-as-domestic-climate-coordinator|access-date=2020-12-16|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Garcia|first1=Catherine|date=2020-12-15|title=Reports: Biden chooses former EPA head Gina McCarthy as White House climate czar|url=https://theweek.com/speedreads/955462/reports-biden-chooses-former-epa-head-gina-mccarthy-white-house-climate-czar|access-date=2020-12-16|work=[[The Week]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Eilperin|first1=Juliet|last2=Dennis|first2=Brady|title=Biden picks former EPA chief Gina McCarthy as White House climate czar|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/12/15/gina-mccarthy-climate-change-czar-biden/|access-date=2020-12-16|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-12-15|title=Biden taps former EPA chief for White House climate coordinator role -sources|language=en|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-mccarthy-exclusive-idUSKBN28P35Y|access-date=2020-12-16}}</ref> [[Ali Zaidi (lawyer)|Ali Zaidi]], served as the first deputy national climate advisor.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Merica|first1=Dan|last2=Sullivan|first2=Kate|date=December 15, 2020|title=Biden to name Gina McCarthy to top domestic climate job|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/15/politics/gina-mccarthy-joe-biden/index.html|access-date=2020-12-17|website=CNN}}</ref> and the second national climate advisor <ref>whitehouse.gov: [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/02/president-biden-announces-senior-clean-energy-and-climate-team/ ''President Biden Announces Senior Clean Energy and Climate Team '']</ref>
However, the leadership of the National Climate Task Force was reshuffled in 2022 upon McCarthy's departure and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, with the [[White House Office on Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation|Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation]] (head of all energy policy) becoming ''chair'', while national climate advisor (coordinator of climate and environment policy) moved to ''vice-chair''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biden unveils new WH climate team ahead of McCarthy's departure |url=https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2022/09/02/joe-biden-climate-team-john-podesta-gina-mccarthy-ali-zaidi |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=ny1.com |language=en}}</ref>
President Trump, by [[Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions|rescinding]] the establishing executive order abolished the office of domestic climate policy. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Ellison |first=Tom |date=2025-01-24 |title=What Just Happened: Trump’s Executive Actions on Environment and Implications for US Climate Security |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/106804/what-just-happened-trumps-executive-actions-us-climate-security/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=Just Security |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-01 |title=Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=Federal Register |language=en}}</ref>
==List of climate advisors== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ !No. !Portrait !Officeholder !Term start !Term end ! colspan="2" |President !Notes |- |style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}};" |{{color|white|1}} |[[File:Carol_Browner_official_photo.jpg|100px]] |align="center"|[[Carol Browner]] |January 22, 2009 |March 3, 2011 |style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}};" | |[[Barack Obama]] |as Director of the [[White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy|Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy]] |- | colspan="8" | ''Vacant'' (March 3, 2011 – January 20, 2021) |- |style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}};" |{{color|white|2}} |[[File:Gina McCarthy, National Climate Advisor.png|100px]] |align="center"|[[Gina McCarthy]] |January 20, 2021 |September 16, 2022 |style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}};" | | rowspan="2" |[[Joe Biden]] | rowspan="2" | as White House National Climate Advisor |- |style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}};" |{{color|white|3}} ||[[File:Ali Zaidi, Deputy National Climate Advisor.jpg|100px]] |[[Ali Zaidi (lawyer)|Ali Zaidi]] |September 16, 2022 |January 20, 2025 |style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}};" | |- | colspan="8" |''Vacant'' (January 20, 2025 – present) |}
== Structure ==
* Assistant to the President & [[White House National Climate Advisor]]: [[Ali Zaidi (lawyer)|Ali Zaidi]] ** Chief of Staff for the Office of Domestic Climate Policy: Medha Raj * Deputy Assistant to the President & Deputy National Climate Advisor: Mary Repko ** Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy: Maggie Thomas ** Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy: David Hayes ** Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy: John Rhodes ** Special Assistant to the President for Climate Finance: Clare Sierawski ** Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy and Finance: Jahi Wise ** Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy, Innovation & Deployment: Sonia Aggarwal ** Senior Advisor for Climate Resilience and Adaptation: Krystal Laymon ** Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Infrastructure: Robert Golden ** Senior Advisor for Climate Policy: Nick Conger ** Senior Director for Industrial Emissions: Trisha Miller ** Senior Director for Transportation Emissions: Austin Brown ** Senior Director for Land, Water, and Agriculture: Melinda Cep
==See also== * [[U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate]] *[[White House Office on Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation]] *[[White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy]], which existed under the Obama administration
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/cpo/ The Whitehouse] {{United States government agencies involved in environmental science}} [[Category:Executive Office of the President of the United States]] [[Category:2021 establishments in the United States]] [[Category:Politics of climate change]] [[Category:Presidency of Joe Biden]]