By Victor Reklaitis
As people and markets around the world brace for Joe Biden’s move into the White House, a key factor is what the veteran Democratic politician could accomplish without having to work with Congress.
Biden is widely expected to make use of executive orders that affect health care /zigman2/quotes/205918244/composite XLV +2.00% , the energy sector /zigman2/quotes/206420077/composite XLE +3.74% and other areas.
“Biden will presumably be at least as active in issuing Executive Orders as was President Obama, or President Trump for that matter,” said James Lucier, an analyst and managing director at Capital Alpha Partners, in a note.
Below are some preliminary expectations around such orders or related executive actions.
HEALTH CARE
Biden looks poised to sign an order once in office that puts the U.S. back in the World Health Organization, reversing President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut ties with the WHO during the coronavirus pandemic.
The former vice president pledged last month during the campaign to require facemasks in all federal buildings and on “interstate transportation,” as part of his approach to fight COVID-19.
He also has promised to step up White House use of the Defense Production Act for manufacturing critical products, including personal protective equipment and other medical gear.
Related: Biden announces his COVID-19 task forc e
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY
Biden has said he will have the U.S. rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, a voluntary global pact that takes aim at climate change.
That expected move on the Paris deal tops the graphic below that was tweeted out by Rapidan Energy Group’s director of business and content development, Leslie Hayward.
The graphic also highlights how a Biden administration could block drilling for oil and gas /zigman2/quotes/203527521/composite XOP +3.94% on federal lands, restore California’s authorit y to set automobile standards for fuel economy and emissions, and restrict the fossil-fuel industry’s access to lower-cost financing. The former vice president said at last month’s debate that he would stop giving federal subsidies to the oil industry .
Read more: Biden pledges to return No. 2 polluter U.S. to the defining Paris climate pact Trump just dropped
And see: Biden has a climate-change mandate — what can he actually achieve?
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