Biden promises ‘strong’ executive climate action after setbacks
United States President Joe Biden is promising “strong executive action” to combat climate change, despite dual setbacks in recent weeks that have restricted his ability to regulate carbon emissions and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power.
The Supreme Court last month limited how the nation’s main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Then on Friday, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said he wanted to delay sweeping environmental legislation that Democrats have pushed as central to achieving Biden’s ambitious climate goals.
Biden, who has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, said on Saturday that “action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever”.
If the Senate will not act to address climate change and boost clean energy, “I will take strong executive action to meet this moment,” Biden said from Saudi Arabia, where he met on Saturday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Some advocates urged Biden to use the moment to declare a national climate emergency and reinstate a ban on crude oil exports, among other steps. Declaring a climate emergency would allow Biden to redirect spending to accelerate renewable energy such as wind and solar and speed the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.
Manchin’s Democratic colleagues in the Senate, slammed his opposition — noting that it was the second time he has torpedoed climate change legislation.
“It’s infuriating and nothing short of tragic that Senator Manchin is walking away, again, from taking essential
action on climate and clean energy,” said Senator Tina Smith. “The world is literally burning up while he joins every single Republican to stop strong action to cut emissions and speed the transition to clean energy.”
Other Democrats said Manchin’s announcement that he cannot back the climate provisions in the Senate bill frees Biden of the obligation to cater to a powerful, coal-state senator eager to protect his energy-producing home state. Manchin’s vote is decisive in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans unanimously oppose climate action.
Advocates also urged Biden to reject all drilling on federal lands and in federal waters — a step he promised during the 2020 campaign but has not enacted — and restrict approval of natural gas pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.
Even before Manchin’s apparent rejection of the climate measures, Democrats had slimmed down their plan from about US$555 billion ($898b) in climate spending to just over US$300B in a bid to secure his support. Proposed tax credits for wind, solar and nuclear energy, along with still-unproven carbon-capture technology, could reduce emissions by up to 40 per cent by 2030, advocates said.
Manchin had already forced Democrats to drop two tax provisions he opposes: direct payments of clean energy credits and tax credits for drivers who purchase electric vehicles. Manchin forced other concessions last year, including killing a proposal that would have paid utilities that increase clean energy while penalising those that do not.
Manchin’s request to postpone action on the climate measure follows a June 30 ruling by the Supreme Court, which said in a six-three vote that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
The ruling by the court’s conservative majority likely complicates the Biden Administration’s plan to manage power plant pollution, but does not eliminate its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said the agency is moving forward with proposed rules for power plants in the coming months. —AP