Biden points to wildfires to push for big rebuild

President Joe Biden on Monday pointed up close to wildfires burning through the West to argue for his $3.5 trillion rebuilding plans, calling year-round fires and other extreme weather a climate change reality the nation can no longer ignore.

Aiming to boost support for his big rebuilding plans, the president said every dollar spent on “resilience” would save $6 in future costs. And he said it must go beyond simply restoring damaged systems and instead ensure communities can withstand catastrophic weather that doesn’t strike based on partisan ideology.

“It’s not a Democrat thing. It’s not a Republican thing. It’s a weather thing,” he said. “It’s a reality. It’s serious and we can do this.”

The president’s two-day Western swing comes at a critical juncture for a central plank of his legislative agenda. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working to assemble details of the infrastructure-plus plan - and how to pay for it, a concern not just for Republicans. A key Democratic senator said Sunday that he will not vote for a package so large.

The president issued his plea about climate change during a briefing at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, which coordinates the government’s wildfire response.