Biden disappoints activists with climate emergency talk and not action

DIP IN GAS PRICES MIGHT BE TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE FOR BIDEN AND DEMS

Biden traveled to Massachusetts on Wednesday to unveil the first in a series of climate executive orders since the Supreme Court‘s decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. That ruling has limited how his administration can regulate emissions.

At a former Brayton Point coal-fired power plant, Biden committed to helping communities proactively deal with extreme heat and other climate-related events, investing in renewable offshore wind energy opportunities and jobs over fossil fuels.

While Biden described climate as “a clear and present danger,” he declined to declare it a national emergency, much to the frustration of activists from Evergreen Action to the Sunrise Movement.

“In the coming days, weeks, and months, President Biden must take bold regulatory and executive action on climate that matches the urgency of the crisis we face,” Evergreen Action Executive Director Jamal Raad said. “Climate change is happening now, and we have no option but to treat it like the emergency that it is. The time for speeches is over, it’s time for concrete action.”

The Sunrise Movement was more succinct: “Declare a climate emergency now @POTUS.”

The Republican National Committee did not specifically criticize Biden’s Wednesday executive order. Instead, the organization focused on his broader climate policies as more than 100 million Americans contend with heat warnings.

“Biden’s solution to his gas hike? He wants you to buy an expensive electric vehicle while his climate czar John Kerry flies his private jet around the world,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said of the president’s international climate adviser.

Citing comments by Biden, in addition to his domestic climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, and her deputy, Ali Zaidi, RNC spokeswoman Nicole Morales told the Washington Examiner, “Americans feel the pain at the pump.”

“But for Biden and Democrats, the pain is the point,” she said. “Pushing a radical climate agenda will make gas prices higher while families struggle. Biden’s ‘incredible transition’ will only lead to a transition of power this November.”

Former South Carolina GOP Rep. Bob Inglis, a climate activist, is relieved the issue has returned to prominence on Capitol Hill despite the institution being undermined by gridlock. He referred to Sen. Kevin Cramer’s (R-ND) carbon tariff negotiations with the White House, as well as Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Mitt Romney (R-UT), as a mechanism to decrease China’s emissions.

“To succeed at this 30-year process of decarbonization, we need bipartisan support and congressional approval,” Inglis said. “We’re sitting in a petri dish, doing an experiment on our common home, and there’s a bunsen burner underneath us.”

Inglis, founder of the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication project republicEn, is more forgiving of lawmakers becoming distracted by domestic and foreign concerns. He compared climate to “a slow-growing cancer” when people require “a tourniquet for the hemorrhaging somewhere” else, whether for “a pandemic, a war in Ukraine, [or] Supreme Court decisions that upset some people.”

Scrutiny of Biden for not declaring a climate national emergency is similar to that which he is under for not issuing a public health emergency for abortion and contraceptive access after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday that a climate national emergency declaration remained “on the table” but not to expect an announcement this week. She added the administration had also “not ruled out” a public health emergency.

“Each unlocks a different set of authorities and a different pot of funding,” she said. “So comparing one against the other as a reflection of priority would not be accurate.”

Jean-Pierre, too, distanced Biden’s climate emergency declaration considerations from talks with Manchin regarding the Democrats-only reconciliation spending bill. An emergency issuance could be used to prevent oil and gas drilling, with pipeline permitting an important issue for Manchin.

Manchin rankled colleagues last week when he told them he would prefer to see July’s consumer price index report, released in August, before proceeding with spending discussions. The inflation rate for the year ending June 30 was 9.1%. Biden cannot pass one of two possible reconciliation bills without coal-enriched Manchin in the current 50-50 Senate.

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“He’s always said if they, the Senate, won’t, he will take action,” Jean-Pierre said of the president. “He is just taking another step. This is not the final step.”