In 2020, Joe Biden ran for president on the most ambitious climate action platform of any major presidential candidate in U.S. history. As President Biden reaches the midway point of his first term in office, it’s time to take stock of what his administration has accomplished, what is still a work in progress, and what is off track.  

In 2021, with Biden’s signature Build Back Better legislation stalled in Congress, I graded the administration’s overall climate performance “incomplete.” Fortunately, with a new name and moderate revisions to its climate policy features, Biden was able to sign the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022, raising his overall climate grade to a strong A-. But he will need to stay focused and implement superbly to maintain, and hopefully further improve, his grade.