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“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.” AP News
The left urges Biden, legislators, and individuals to take action to mitigate climate change.
“We can adapt to our warming world, but ‘our ability to adapt is not infinite,’ [NASA scientist Alex Ruane] said. And we are already pressing up against its limits. More than 1,700 heat-related deaths have been reported this month in Spain and Portugal alone. Runways are melting and delaying planes. Tracks are warping and delaying trains. Surgical procedures are being canceled because of overheated operating rooms.”
Jacob Stern, The Atlantic
"[Advocates urge Biden] to immediately use the Environmental Protection Agency to cut pollution from power plants, to phase out new fossil fuel leases, to introduce stiff new limits on tailpipe emissions on cars and trucks, to require greater disclosures of emissions in business and to aggressively enforce existing emissions standards for industry and buildings. Biden is also facing demands to end domestic fossil fuel subsidies and to end US donor support for fossil fuel projects and infrastructure overseas…
“While many of these measures could be revoked by a future president's stroke of a pen and would likely face immediate challenges in court from the powerful fossil fuel industry, they could quickly boost economic incentives for entrepreneurs to march towards a green energy future. And they could also prove to be a jobs engine, not to mention a potentially galvanizing force to get young and suburban voters to the polls this November. That's why many Democrats believe it's time for Biden to ditch his trademark caution and ignite a new political battle.”
Stephen Collinson, CNN
Regarding legislation, “Market-style reforms are the most fertile ground for compromise. Zero-carbon forms of energy, such as nuclear and geothermal, face legitimately higher barriers to construction than fossil-fuel infrastructure; it is next to impossible to build major power lines. Loosening those rules could be a win for all involved—Democrats will get to unlock the clean-energy economy, while Republicans can claim that they’re repealing what are at least nominally ‘environmental’ regulations. But then again, bipartisan deals on far more innocuous subjects than this one have died on the rocks.”Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic
"Forget your carbon footprint; the best thing to do about climate change is join a group focused on collective action… In the years I’ve worked with Rogue Climate, often no more than a few hours a month, I have made new friends from different generations, learned new skills, and helped stop a proposed fossil fuel pipeline that a giant corporation wanted to run through my county…
“It’s increasingly clear that voting is not enough. Sixty-eight percent of Biden voters told pollsters that climate change was very important to their vote—but the Biden administration and Senate Democrats have not been able to deliver any version of a climate package. The best response to this isn’t to give up on civic engagement—it’s to increase it. Amid the deluge of bad news and deeply uncertain times, there is one certainty: If anything is achieved, it will be because organized groups of citizens demanded it.”
Emma Marris, New Republic
The right argues against unilateral executive action and urges additional investment in mining and reforestation.
The right argues against unilateral executive action and urges additional investment in mining and reforestation.
“We have been aware of the warming climate for decades, yet we haven’t done what climate activists have wanted to address it because the policy tradeoffs required haven’t garnered majority support among Americans. Environmentalists might be happy to raise gas prices, ramp down fossil fuel production and even reduce meat consumption as means to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Most Americans remain unconvinced…
“Climate activists are understandably frustrated by Congress’s refusal to pass laws they want. But that’s what happens in a democracy. If they want their way, they need to make their case to the American people. Perhaps they should even be honest with them about the sacrifices they will need to make rather than selling false happy talk about a painless transition to a ‘green economy.’ Convincing voters will take time, but it’s the only way to secure a national commitment to a long-term, multifaceted climate policy.”
Henry Olsen, Washington Post
“The path to net zero carbon emissions is fraught with mineral dependencies, from the cobalt and nickel in electric vehicle batteries to the copper and silicon in solar panels. And demand is skyrocketing… The environmentalist Left, however, has opposed mining for decades…
“Opposition to mining makes an awkward fit with progressive policy goals. The 2019 Green New Deal resolution called for ‘good-paying jobs’; the average mining salary in the United States is $61,110. The resolution called for a ‘just [energy] transition for all communities and workers’; shifting coal miners toward other extractive industries would be more effective than telling them to ‘learn to code.’…
“And then, of course, tucked away at the bottom of the proposal, there is the question of climate change. The United States has 189 domestic facilities currently capable of producing critical minerals. As China asserts more control over the critical-mineral supply chain abroad, these facilities will be crucial to securing the renewable resources needed for decarbonizing the national economy. Yet over the past few years, the only congressional Democrat seriously taking up the mantle of critical-minerals mining has been Joe Manchin.”
Thomas Hochman, City Journal
Finally, “Multiple studies agree that nearly 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed in the past four decades, and little of it has been replanted… Unlike efforts to make the world run on wind energy or treat carbon emissions as a taxable sin, renewing the world’s forests is an activity that is well within our grasp…
“We know how to plant trees. It’s not a mystery. And it doesn’t cost very much when done on a large scale. You could probably plant several hundred million trees in the United States (or Brazil or anywhere else) in a single year for less than a billion dollars. That’s less money than we seem to be shipping out to Ukraine on a monthly basis. And the impact would be felt within the first couple of years, not decades down the road… This would be a political winner that everyone should be able to get behind.”
Jazz Shaw, Hot Air
