Joe environment

"If I could wave a wand, and the Lord said I could solve one problem, I would solve the energy crisis," he said at a South Carolina campaign rally. "That's the single most consequential problem we can solve."

In an interview with Grist last year, Biden emphasized that his experience in international relations would help bring the United States into productive discussions about a global climate pact.

"I would be most capable of getting this country back into an international climate regime, getting us back to the table the fastest and with the most prospect for success, because of my extensive engagement in foreign policy," Biden told Grist. "I'm also in the best position to make it clear to the United States Congress that this is not merely an environmental issue, it is a security issue."

Biden continued, "To deal with global warming, you have to change the attitude of the world, particularly China and India, the two largest developing nations. But in order to do that, to have any credibility, you have to begin here in the United States by capping emissions, increasing renewable fuels, establishing a national renewable portfolio standard, requiring better fuel economy for automobiles."

On the domestic front, enviros note that Biden's proposals dovetail with those Obama has put forward. Like Obama, Biden has called for capping greenhouse-gas emissions at 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, and he signed on as a cosponsor of the Boxer-Sanders Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, the toughest climate bill in the Senate. Biden has also called for a renewable portfolio standard that would require an increasing percentage of U.S. electricity to come from renewable sources, and he's been a vocal opponent of opening new areas of the country to oil and gas drilling, advocating for the protection of the Outer Continental Shelf, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the North Slope of Alaska.

From his post on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden has been a harsh critic of the oil industry. In a 2006 hearing on rising oil prices and energy industry mergers, Biden asked executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and other companies if they thought they should keep getting $2.8 billion in federal subsidies at a time of record profits.

Biden has worked to push the auto industry toward cleaner technologies. While campaigning for president, he called for fuel-economy standards for automobiles to be raised to 40 miles per gallon by 2017, and said he would require the federal government to purchase only automobiles that get at least 40 mpg. He called for federal spending of $100 million a year on research and development of lithium-ion batteries to be used in plug-in hybrids. Along with Obama, he was a cosponsor of the bipartisan Fuel Economy Reform Act, a measure to raise vehicle fuel-efficiency standards by 4 percent each year and provide tax incentives for automakers to update their factories in order to achieve this goal. In 2007, he sponsored the American Automobile Industry Promotion Act, which would support R&D on electric car motors and batteries. Biden has also been a strong supporter of biofuels.

Blackwelder of FOE Action is cheered by Biden's support of public transportation. Biden, who commutes roundtrip from Delaware to D.C. each workday on Amtrak, has long promoted the national rail system. He was named"Champion of the Rails" by Amtrak in 2001, and the American Passenger Rail Coalition presented him with a "Rail Leadership Award" in 2002.

Biden and Obama have differed on a few environmental issues. Biden voted against the 2005 Energy Policy Act, a sweeping, oil-friendly energy bill that enviros largely opposed; Obama voted for it, citing its support for ethanol and "clean coal" technology. Biden has been much less enthusiastic than Obama about "clean coal," telling Grist last year, "I don't think there's much of a role for clean coal in energy independence" -- though he did note that advanced coal technology could be important in other nations like China.

Environment America Executive Director Margie Alt called Biden a "solid choice for the environment." But she emphasized that Obama and his new running mate need to make sure the environment remains a top priority even while they're coping with big issues like the economy and the war in Iraq.

"A lot of things will be competing for the attention of the new administration, and I think it's important that the Obama-Biden administration realizes not only the environment fundamentals, but that all of the proposals for a clean energy future will be really helpful for the economy at the same time that they help the environment," said Alt. "I think there really is a good opportunity there to prioritize these issues and solve a lot of problems at once, and I hope the administration will be able to quickly take advantage of that."