Biden names top adviser to steer economic recovery
Appointment signals intention to put climate change at heart of plans for reviving economy
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Mr Brian Deese, 42, who helped lead president Barack Obama's efforts to bail out the automotive industry and negotiate the Paris climate agreement, would be the youngest person to head the National Economic Council.
WILMINGTO•N • US President-elect Joe Biden has named Mr Brian Deese, who helped lead president Barack Obama's efforts to bail out the automotive industry and negotiate the Paris climate agreement, as his top economic adviser.
Mr Deese, 42, would be the youngest person to head the National Economic Council. His appointment signals Mr Biden's intention to put climate change at the heart of his plans for reviving the United States economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Deese is "a trusted voice I can count on to help us end the ongoing economic crisis, build a better economy that deals everybody in, and take on the existential threat of climate change in a way that creates good-paying American jobs", Mr Biden said.
Mr Deese said he would push for "bold, new actions" needed to combat climate change and address the racial inequities that he said were at the core of the climate crisis.
The US needs to rejoin the Paris climate accord, he said, and push "far beyond" it to meet Mr Biden's goal of achieving a net-zero emissions economy before 2050.
The climate focus marks a sharp departure from the Donald Trump administration. Mr Trump has referred to climate change as a "hoax", questioned the science and in 2017 pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement - a decision which took effect on Nov 4.
During the Obama administration, Mr Deese served as deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and the National Economic Council, and as a senior climate and energy adviser to the president.
In 2017, he was named head of sustainable investment at US$7.4 trillion (S$9.9 trillion) asset giant BlackRock, which is shedding some coal investments but still invests heavily in fossil fuel companies.
His BlackRock role prompted an outcry from some environmental and progressive groups, who said he was not aggressive enough on climate change and would have to recuse himself from some decisions under federal laws.
Mr Evan Weber, co-founder of the progressive Sunrise Movement, said on Thursday that Mr Deese's appointment and what he called the "revolving door between Wall Street and the White House" did not inspire confidence.
However, in recent days, former Obama administration officials, progressives in the Democratic Party and environmentalist Bill McKibben have come to Mr Deese's defence. Mr McKibben said Mr Deese told him last winter that he had spent his time at BlackRock pushing for change to the company's climate policies, and that Mr Deese understood it had not yet gone far enough.
Separately, a month after the presidential election, Mr Biden's election margin over Mr Trump widened to more than seven million votes on Thursday, even as Mr Trump and supporters persisted in claims of fraud.
New local tallies from New York drove Mr Biden's total to 81,264,673 votes, compared with Mr Trump's 74,210,838, with a total of 158.4 million votes counted so far, according to data compiled by the Cook Political Report. That gave Mr Biden a solid 4.4 percentage point margin over Mr Trump. Mr Biden captured 306 electoral votes for his victories in individual states, well past the 270 needed to win.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
