Joe Biden did not declare a climate emergency in his speech yesterday, although some Democrats hoped and have demanded it. In the United States, warnings of sweltering heat have been issued for this week as well.
US President Joe Biden has announced that he will allocate $2.3 billion to build infrastructure resilient to extreme weather conditions and natural disasters. Biden said he would expand federal programs linked to climate change, which can help Americans, for example, in the midst of heat waves.
The decision was announced yesterday, Wednesday, when Biden spoke on climate change in the state of Massachusetts on Wednesday.
In practice, the funding announced by Biden is going to be used for cooling and heating systems for low-income homes and reducing their costs, expanding flood protection and other building retrofits.
Biden did not declare an actual climate emergency
However, Biden did not declare an actual climate emergency in his speech. That could give the president more powers.
Some Democrats and environmental organizations have demanded that Biden declare a climate emergency, says for example an American television channel CNBC (you switch to another service). The declaration could give the administration powers, for example, to limit oil and gas drilling and thus transfer funds to cleaner energy production.
The Joe Biden administration’s climate program has been in trouble, as the Biden administration’s climate bill failed in the Senate last week.
In the United States, there have been warnings of sweltering heat this week.