On his first day in office, US President Joseph Biden signed as many as 17 executive actions.

Nine of these orders reversed the decisions made by Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump.

“In fact, these reverse some of Donald Trump’s most divisive and controversial policies — from the environment to immigration to health and coronavirus… these are important and some, in particular, have significance for India,” he said.

In the episode, a senior journalist explained the major shifts in US governance including the decisions regarding the Paris Climate Accord, the halting of the Keystone XL Pipeline project and Trump’s 1776 Commission.

“Yet countries like ours are now under pressure to control our emissions, not burn coal, not to build more industry… India has to move to cleaner fuels which will be very expensive so the Paris Climate Accord would have brought in some help, some sharing of that expense,” Gupta said while explaining Biden’s move is a positive one for India.

Then there is the halting of the Keystone XL pipeline project. The pipeline starts in Alberta, Western Canada and brings a crude oil substitute known as tar sands, which is the most polluting fossil fuel in the world, to the US.

The journalist called this a “gut punch” to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau whose politics ride on the Keystone pipeline, given Alberta’s high rate of unemployment. “This will have consequences going ahead… this would have taken 8,30,000 barrels of tar sand every day from Alberta to the refineries in America… and would have changed the global oil market but would have also ruined global climate and would have cut through many environmentally sensitive zones in both the countries,” said Gupta.

Among other changes, the US President has also passed orders to include non-citizens in the American census, reverse the entry ban on passport holders from seven Muslim countries and stop money being spent on building a wall along the Mexican border.

On Day 1, Biden also wound up Trump’s controversial 1776 commission.

The first policy of Trump’s that Biden reversed was the US government’s withdrawal from the World Health Organisation over “China’s growing influence” as claimed by Donald Trump. The new President also appointed top infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci to lead the team to WHO.

“…America should re-enter WHO and not leave it all to Chinese domination because you need balance, and you need Chinese power to be countered. But it doesn’t mean that you should not raise the hard questions about the performance of the WHO and the WHO’s boss over this year,” argued Gupta.

Biden also signed an executive order ensuring US’s reentry into the Paris Climate Accord, which according to Gupta, is a significant development for India. The Paris Climate Agreement is a legally binding international treaty that sets limits on greenhouse gas emissions and how far global temperatures can be allowed to increase.

US’s withdrawal from the Accord had affected countries like India badly, “because per capita emissions in a country like India” are a fraction of what they are in developed countries. 

America became independent on 4 July 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed. Several have, however, contended that American history begins from the day the slaves came from Africa in 1669.

“Trump and his people said that that is revisionist history, what you’re doing is you are maligning our founding fathers as hypocrites for defending slavery,” explained Gupta.

Trump set up the 1776 commission in December. Among the things the commission said was that the “liberal charge is untrue” and would have devastating effects on the country’s civil and social fabric.

“The institution of slavery has been more the rule than the exceptions through human history. Now that is really finding retrospective justification for slavery,” Gupta said. The commission had also said that those trying to “revise” this history were only answering discrimination with discrimination.

On the other hand, he said, Biden has brought in Susan Rice as head of White House Domestic Policy Council who will be working with all government agencies to bring in racial equity — “… what this commission called answering discrimination with discrimination, Biden has put the clock back on that argument, which in my view is a very good step,’’ concluded Gupta.

(With inputs from agencies)