U.S. President-Elect Biden has identified climate change as one of his administration's top priorities, according to the Biden-Harris Transition website. In addition to rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, the Biden-Harris Administration plans "to create union jobs by tackling the climate crisis." Energy-related plans described on the transition website include the following:

• Infrastructure: "Create millions of good, union jobs rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure – from roads and bridges to green spaces and water systems to electricity grids and universal broadband – to lay a new foundation for sustainable growth, compete in the global economy, withstand the impacts of climate change, and improve public health, including access to clean air and clean water."
• Power Sector: "Move ambitiously to generate clean, American-made electricity to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. This will enable us to meet the existential threat of climate change while creating millions of jobs with a choice to join a union."
• Buildings: "Upgrade 4 million buildings and weatherize 2 million homes over 4 years, creating at least 1 million good-paying jobs with a choice to join a union; and also spur the building retrofit and efficient-appliance manufacturing supply chain by funding direct cash rebates and low-cost financing to upgrade and electrify home appliances and install more efficient windows, which will cut residential energy bills."
• Innovation: "Drive dramatic cost reductions in critical clean energy technologies, including battery storage, negative emissions technologies, the next generation of building materials, renewable hydrogen, and advanced nuclear – and rapidly commercialize them, ensuring that those new technologies are made in America."

In addition, President-Elect Biden announced that former senator and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will serve as climate envoy for national security. Kerry will become the first member of the National Security Council to focus exclusively on climate change, according to AP News. 

In November 2020, the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) released two reports addressing the need to shift the transportation, heating and cooling sectors to renewable energy.

Transportation: The rapidly growing transportation sector generated nearly 25% of global energy-related GHG emissions in 2019, yet only 3.7% of the sector's energy consumption was met by renewable sources, according to REN21. Citing the need for a "rapid and fundamental shift ... in transport to enable the decarbonisation required to meet the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement," REN21 and the FIA Foundation released an in-depth study, Renewable Energy Pathways in Road Transport, to highlight sustainable solutions. A link to the full report is here, and those interested in staying informed and participating in future energy and transportation initiatives are invited to sign up here. 

Heating and Cooling: The continued use of fossil fuels as the main fuel for heating and cooling contributes significantly to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. A new report, Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition: Heating and Cooling (2020), prepared by REN21, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), "provides an overview of the role of renewables in heating and cooling with context on the different technological options and applications." It also "showcases supporting policy mechanisms necessary to support the development and deployment of renewables in heating and cooling." A link to the full report is here.