President Biden’s big cleanup operation has made more progress than you think

| 4:00 pm EDT September 23, 2021
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From the moment Joe Biden was elected, it was clear his presidency would be unique in at least one way: Biden would have to clean up the profound mess left behind by his monstrous predecessor. Donald Trump isn’t just a Republican with horrible politics; he’s a reckless slob intent on destroying everything around him, whether for personal gain, for kicks, or both.

Peril, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s insightful book that was released on Tuesday, reveals the unusual scene Biden found himself in after his inauguration in January. “Trump’s existence permeated the White House,” they wrote, detailing how Trump littered the White House with many “toys,” such as a giant virtual golf course machine, which offered him amusement when he wasn’t getting impeached. When Trump moved out in January, the fussy, privileged toddler left the toys behind, prompting Biden to refer to the former guy as a “fucking asshole.”

Of course, Trump’s contempt for his surroundings extends far beyond the boundaries of his converted romper rooms. The Earth, already suffering under a climate crisis, received zero love from the Trump administration over four long years. On the contrary, not only did Trump fail to help the environment, but he aggressively pursued harmful deregulation—even at the end of his term when he was supposed to be focused on a peaceful transition of power.

Fortunately, the Biden administration has been making progress in reversing Trump’s onslaught of environmental deregulation. According to the Washington Post’s tracker, Biden has so far successfully reversed 42 regulatory rollbacks while having targeted 73 more. This all began on day one, when Biden announced the United States would rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and rescinded a Keystone XL pipeline permit Trump proudly granted in 2017.

The tracker also shows that Biden isn’t limiting himself to reversing Trump’s destructive actions. Biden has also been pushing forward with an environmental agenda that should appeal to anyone who wishes to live on a clean, healthy planet. Within a matter of months, the Biden administration has taken 24 new actions and proposed 24 more. As Al Gore put it bluntly ten years ago: “Here is the truth: The Earth is round; Saddam Hussein did not attack us on 9/11; Elvis is dead; Obama was born in the United States; and the climate crisis is real.”