Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2025

Biden announces modest climate actions, stops short of declaring emergency

Biden announces modest climate actions, stops short of declaring emergency

President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced modest new steps to combat climate change and promised more robust action to come, saying, “This is an emergency and I will look at it that way.”

The president stopped short, though, of declaring a formal climate emergency, which Democrats and environmental groups have been seeking after an influential Democratic senator quashed hopes for sweeping legislation to address global warming. Biden hinted such a step could be coming.

“Let me be clear: Climate change is an emergency,” Biden said. He pledged to use his power as president “to turn these words into formal, official government actions through the appropriate proclamations, executive orders and regulatory power that a president possesses.”

When it comes to climate change, he added, “I will not take no for an answer.”

Biden delivered his pledge at a former coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts. The former Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, Massachusetts, is shifting to offshore wind power manufacturing, and Biden chose it as the embodiment of the transition to clean energy that he is seeking but has struggled to realize in the first 18 months of his presidency.

Executive actions announced Wednesday will bolster the domestic offshore wind industry in the Gulf of Mexico and Southeast, as well as spend $2.3 billion to help communities cope with soaring temperatures through programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies.

The trip comes as historic temperatures bake Europe and the United States. Wildfires raged in Spain and France, and Britain on Tuesday shattered its record for highest temperature ever registered. At least 100 million Americans face heat advisories in the next few days as cities around the U.S. sweat through more intense and longer-lasting heat waves that scientists blame on global warming.

Calls for a national emergency declaration to address the climate crisis have been rising among activists and Democratic lawmakers after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., last week scuttled talks on a long-delayed legislative package.


‘I can do more’


Biden said Wednesday the option remains under consideration. “I’m running the traps on the totality of the authority I have,” he told reporters after returning to Washington. “Unless Congress acts in the meantime, I can do more” on climate, he said. “Because not enough is being done now.”

Biden said he’s been told that some of his legislative proposal on climate remains “in play,” but he acknowledged he has not spoken to Manchin.

Gina McCarthy, Biden’s climate adviser, said Biden is not “shying away” from treating climate as an emergency. “The president wants to make sure that we’re doing it right, that we’re laying it out, and that we have the time we need to get this worked out,” she told reporters on Air Force One.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who attended Wednesday’s event, said he was “confident that the president is ultimately ready to do whatever it takes in order to deal with this crisis.”

Environmental groups were less hopeful. “The world’s burning up from California to Croatia, and right now Biden’s fighting fire with the trickle from a garden hose,” said Jean Su, energy justice program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

An emergency declaration on climate would allow Biden to redirect federal resources to bolster renewable energy programs that would help accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels such as coal and oil. 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.


Possible court challenges


Such a declaration would be similar to the one issued by Biden’s Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, who declared a national emergency to build a wall on the southern border when lawmakers refused to allocate money for that effort. A federal appeals court later ruled Trump’s action was illegal.

Some legal scholars said an emergency order on climate could face a similar fate. The Supreme Court last month limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming.

Declaring a climate emergency “is a way to get around Congress and specifically Joe Manchin. That’s not what emergency powers are for,” said Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the liberty and national security program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.

Biden pledged last week to take significant executive actions on climate after months-long discussions between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., came to a standstill. The West Virginia senator cited stubbornly high inflation as the reason for his hesitation, although he has long protected energy interests in his coal- and gas-producing state.

For now, Manchin has said he will only agree to a limited legislative deal on health care and prescription drugs. The White House has indicated it wants Congress to take that deal, and Biden will address the climate issue on his own.

Biden visited the dusty grounds of the former Brayton Point power plant, which closed in 2017 after burning coal for more than five decades. The plant will now make subsea transmission cables to bring power generated by offshore wind to the electrical grid.

A few dozen people listened in the blazing sun as Biden spoke, including McCarthy, members of Congress and Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, a former Massachusetts senator.

A new report says the U.S. and other major carbon-polluting nations are falling short on pledges to fight climate change. Among the 10 biggest carbon emitters, only the European Union has enacted polices close to or consistent with international goals to limit warming to just a few more tenths of a degree Celsius, scientists and experts say.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Woman slaps man at sports game and gets herself and husband beat up
Pope Francis: head of the Catholic church who pushed for social and economic justice
China do not pay these tariffs - you pay it. This is new 145% tax you pay to the US government.
Nightlife in the streets of Manchester
In God We Profit
Cultural Battles in the Vatican: The Candidates in the Battle for the Holy See and Pope Francis's Testament
Global Leaders Pay Tribute to Pope Francis Following His Death
Wild Chimpanzees Observed Bonding Over Alcoholic Fruit
US Federal Reserve Chair Issues Warning on Tariff Impact
UK Prison Officers Demand Electric Stun Guns Amid Safety Concerns
China, China, China!
Australian National Charged as Mercenary for Fighting in Ukraine
Israel Considers Limited Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Facilities Amid Diplomatic Efforts
Prince Andrew Joins Royal Family Attends Easter Sunday Service at Windsor Castle
Saudi Arabia Offers Max Verstappen Unprecedented Deal to Join Aston Martin
Global Pistachio Shortage Amid Rising Demand for 'Dubai Chocolate'
Trump is assembling a coalition of Western leaders aligned with the MAGA vision, strengthening a unified front for global change
IMF Predicts No Global Recession Amid Trade Tensions
Here’s a police officer with a brilliant gift for swift education
"Some complain that we put thousands in prison. In reality, we set millions free."
This is Vienna, Austria in 2025.
Boeing Jet Returns to US from China Amid Tariff War
Canadian Federal Election: Candidates' Positions on US-Canada Relations and Donald Trump
Resentencing Hearing for Menendez Brothers Who Killed Their Parents Delayed Amid Legal Disputes
Australian Woman Gives Birth To Stranger's Baby In IVF Mix-up
US Sets Deadline for Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal Brokerage
Italy Introduces 'Sex Rooms' in Prisons for Inmates
California Launches Legal Challenge Against Trump Administration's Tariffs
"Groundless": China Dismisses Zelensky's Claims It's Supplying Arms To Russia
UK Psytrance Festival Cancelled Amid Local Protests Over Noise Concerns
French Far-Right Writer Renaud Camus Denied Entry to UK
UK Police Force Updates Search Policy for Trans Individuals in Custody
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Meets with Donald Trump to Discuss EU-US Trade Tensions
Canada's Federal Party Leaders Engage in Final Debate Ahead of General Election
Ukraine and US Sign Outline of Minerals Deal
Fast Food Chain Refuses to Apologize for Online Comment About Katy Perry's Space Voyage
New York Attorney General Letitia James Faces Criminal Referral for Alleged Mortgage Fraud
Mark Cuban admits support for Trump executive order: ‘Gotta be honest’
US Senator Meets with Deported Immigrant in El Salvador Amid Custody Dispute
U.S. State Department Raises El Salvador’s Safety Ranking, Making It Safer Than France and Other European Nations
UK Government Assumes Control of British Steel's Scunthorpe Plant Amid Shutdown Threat
UK MP Wera Hobhouse Denied Entry to Hong Kong During Family Visit
Bangladesh Issues Arrest Warrant for UK MP Tulip Siddiq
China Urges United States to Cancel Tariffs Amid Escalating Trade Tensions
The Empire’s USD Pyramid Scheme Is Working Brilliantly—So Why ‘Fix’ It?
China Raises Tariffs on U.S. Goods to 125% Amid Escalating Trade Dispute
Elon Musk Reports $150 Billion in Projected Government Savings Amid Fraud Investigations
U.S. and Panama Finalize Defense Agreements Amid Canal Access and Chinese Influence Concerns
China Stands Firm Amidst Trade Disputes with the US: A Factual Analysis
U.S. Tariff Escalation Sparks Global Trade Tensions
×