Podesta: US climate action will not stop despite Trump election

White House climate adviser John Podesta on Monday sought to reassure the world that the U.S. would move forward on combating climate change despite the election of President-elect Trump, who has long cast doubt on the science behind the issue.

“While the United States federal government under Donald Trump may put climate action on the back burner, the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States with commitment and passion and belief,” Podesta said during a press conference at the COP 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“Here at COP 29 and moving forward, the private sector must continue to lead to make new and bigger investments in clean energy technologies to continue to innovate and build a net-zero economy, and we will continue to need subnational actors in the U.S. and globally to lead the way,” he added.

Trump is poised to roll back a number of climate-related regulations. He has also railed against laws such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which made major investments in climate change, and vowed to rescind the unspent dollars.

In the wake of Trump's election, foreign governments may be skeptical of any commitments the U.S. makes on climate change, as Trump is unlikely to prioritize climate action and has repeatedly downplayed the dangers of the warming world.

Podesta, however, detailed actions that the Biden administration may take in the months ahead to insulate its climate achievements from the Trump presidency: including spending more money set aside for climate in the IRA and finalizing rules governing how its tax credits will be implemented.

“We have already awarded $98 billion, that's about 88 percent of the money that's available in the fiscal years, available to us. We're committed to moving forward and getting more of that done,” Podesta said.

“ We have some important tax guidance that needs to be put out, particularly on the ... technology-neutral production and investment tax credits for clean energy production, for clean hydrogen and a couple of other tax credits. So we're finalizing those rules, and in the meantime, we're also trying to work, as I said, with our state and local partners,” he said.