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Biden says 'Code Red', but his actions choose mitigation over reduction of GHGs so urgently needed [1]
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Date: 2022-07-20
I just watched Joe Biden’s Climate speech in Somerset, Massachusetts. His rhetoric expressed the dire predicament that threatens modern human civilization very effectively, but his actions fell far short of reflecting the urgency of his rhetoric. He announced a couple of federal government initiatives aimed at mitigation of the effects of climate change, without any elements to reduce the root causes driving the Climate Crisis. Biden did NOT declare a Climate Emergency, reportedly to avoid setting a precedent broadening the powers of the Executive Branch, when Trump has already established that precedent broadening the powers of the Executive Branch, with the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Trump’s expanded Executive Branch powers, not once but twice.
Biden holds off — for now — on climate emergency declaration By SEUNG MIN KIM, CHRIS MEGERIAN and MATTHEW DALY “It’s not on the table for this week,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of a climate emergency declaration. “We are still considering it. I don’t have the upsides or the downsides of it.” The president has been trying to signal to Democratic voters that he’s aggressively tackling global warming at a time when some of his supporters have despaired about the lack of progress. He has pledged to push forward on his own in the absence of congressional action. Declaration of a climate emergency would be similar to one issued by former President Donald Trump boosting construction of a southern border wall. It would allow Biden to redirect spending to accelerate renewable energy such as wind and solar power and speed the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. The declaration also could be used as a legal basis to block oil and gas drilling or other projects, although such actions would likely be challenged in court by energy companies or Republican-led states.
Biden, who served in the Senate for more than three decades, “has been chained to the legislative process, thinking about his past as a senator,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said at a news conference Monday night. “Now he’s unchained, and he has to go.”
Biden announces new climate change programs, but no emergency declaration President Joe Biden announced new executive steps to combat climate change on Wednesday, a move that comes as Democrats urge the administration to issue a climate-emergency declaration amid stalled negotiations over major environmental legislation in Washington.
The initiatives include providing $2.3 billion in funding for a program that helps communities prepare for disasters by expanding flood control and retrofitting buildings, as well as leveraging funding to help low-income families cover heating and cooling costs.
The president also is directing the Department of the Interior to propose new offshore wind areas in the Gulf of Mexico, a plan that could power more than 3 million homes and advance the transition to clean energy.
Might Democrats Actually Be Showing a Little Fight? By Bill McKibben Our political world is so full of vitriol and fury that it’s easy to forget how little legislating actually gets done—whole years pass without our gridlocked Congress passing bills that really change the texture of daily life. But the Supreme Court, with its recent spate of wildly radical decisions, changed that pattern, destabilizing American politics. In essence they ruled that anyone should be able to carry guns, woman should have to carry babies, and the atmosphere should carry ever more carbon. These were body blows to American norms, each of them despicable—and taken together they offer a once-in-a-generation opening for the drifting, desultory Democratic party to find itself. And this week there were a few signs that might be starting to happen. I’ve argued that Joe Biden should get on a train and campaign like Harry Truman through the midterms; that clearly isn’t going to happen, but at least he got on Twitter to say the most important words: end the filibuster, at least to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into law.
The little sparks of feistiness the Democrats are showing shouldn’t fool any of us into thinking that they will develop a full-on case of Pluck. The Democratic Party is comfortable with inaction; its default is a kind of mealy-mouthed effort to keep things on an even keel. That’s not ideal, but it’s not impossible either: it means the party is a shell that can be pushed by groups that actually care about things: a livable climate, say. But it requires us to organize the Dems, rather than waiting for the Dems to organize us. Most of the time that’s a hard slog, but this is a rare moment.
So far this amounts to taking baby steps as an environmental tsunami threatens to wash away human civilization. We are being offered band aids when we’re about to be dragged through a climate cactus patch for centuries to come.
x Mr. Biden took useful but small-bore climate actions today, including opening up new areas in the Gulf of Mexico for wind leases.
The bigger test: will he declare a full-on climate emergency, and do things like *stop* oil and gas leases in the Gulf?
The next weeks will be crucial — Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) July 20, 2022
If Biden doesn’t act decisively how will the International Community ever take US commitments on Climate, or US pledges to reduce GHG emmissions seriously ever again? The US has to act collaboratively or trust that the International Community can unite to act on Climate will be at risk.
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