President Joe Biden announced new executive steps to combat climate change on Wednesday but did not issue a climate emergency declaration as some Democrats had called for.
Biden said that this is an emergency because Congress is not acting as it should. In the absence of executive action, I will use my executive powers to fight the climate crisis.
Funding for a program that helps communities prepare for disasters by expanding flood control and retrofitting buildings is one of the initiatives.
The White House said that the president directed the Department of the Interior to propose new offshore wind areas in the Gulf of Mexico, which could power more than three million homes. In order to advance wind energy development in the waters off the mid and southern Atlantic Coast and Florida's Gulf Coast, Biden has ordered the Interior Secretary.
The president spoke at a former coal-fired plant. A cable manufacturing facility will be located at the plant.
The White House is struggling to save Biden's climate agenda after talks with Manchin broke down. Manchin, a centrist who holds the swing vote in the Senate, told the Democrats that he wouldn't support major climate provisions in the reconciliation bill.
A Supreme Court ruling last month limited the federal government's authority to impose regulations to cut carbon emissions from power plants.
The president must rely on executive orders to address climate change if Manchin doesn't support the bill. There are some executive actions that could limit emissions from fossil fuel.
The president was urged by Democrats and environmental groups to issue an emergency declaration. The administration could use a declaration to stop oil and gas drilling and shift funds to clean energy projects.
In a letter to Biden, the senators urged him to use the power of the National Emergency Act to curb climate change.
The senators wrote that declaring the climate crisis a national emergency under the NEA would give them the power to rebuild the economy. Spending could be diverted to build out renewable energy systems on military bases, implement large-scale clean transportation solutions, and finance distributed energy projects to boost climate resilience.
By the end of the decade, Biden wants the US to reach net-zero emissions. According to an analysis by the Rhodium Group, the country is on track to miss the president's target.
Jean Su, Energy Justice program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said that a historic climate emergency declaration is what we need from Biden. Biden can use his climate powers to get us off fossil fuels and build a renewable energy powerhouse we need.
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