A wind turbine generates electricity at the Block Island Wind Farm on July 7, 2022 near Block Island, RI.
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John Moore / Getty Images
A wind turbine generates electricity at the Block Island Wind Farm on July 7, 2022 near Block Island, RI.
John Moore / Getty Images
As President Biden’s climate ambitions continued to falter in the Senate, he visited the site of a former coal power plant in Massachusetts on Wednesday to announce new funding designed to help climate change efforts. communities withstand the extreme heat, as well as tout the country’s burgeoning offshore wind industry.
Biden is expected to announce $2.3 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Communities and Infrastructure initiative, which supports projects in the community. copper is designed to reduce the risk of extreme weather events.
Heat is America’s biggest weather-related killer, according to I have to go to school every day. Last year’s extreme heatwave that covered the Pacific Northwest is estimated to have killed more than 1,000 people in the United States and Canada.
As NPR has previous report, the effects of extreme heat are not felt uniformly. In American cities, residents of low-income neighborhoods and communities of color endure much higher temperatures than those living in whiter, more affluent areas.
Biden is also expected to announce a change to Energy assistance program for low-income families that would allow states to use program funding to set up cooling centers and reduce cooling equipment costs for poorer Americans.
Promoting the offshore wind industry
A White House official said the Brayton Point Power Plant, where Biden would send his address, was once the largest coal power plant in the northeast. The site now serves as a production hub for the wind industry.
Today’s speech follows the White House’s announcement last month of a “federal-federal offshore wind deployment partnership” aimed at growing the industry.
“The partnership will support efforts to deliver cleaner and cheaper energy to Americans, create high-paying jobs, and make historic investments in new American energy supply chains, manufacturing, shipbuilding and services”, the government said in a statement.
Biden’s climate comments primarily focus on the energy transition as a tool to drive quality commercial jobs, while reinforcing his ambitious climate promises. .
These measures will not achieve Biden’s broader goals
The president has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas pollution by 50% from 2005 levels over the next seven to eight years. He has also pledged to build a zero-emissions power sector by 2035. The targets are considered by experts to be in line with what is needed to limit the worst effects of climate change and on par with international commitments of the United States.
However, today’s announcements are small compared to what is needed to achieve those goals, and for the most part, Biden’s legislative ambitions continue to stagnate in the face of opposition from Senator Joe. Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia.
Manchin received more money from the oil and gas industry last year than any other member of Congress, according to the nonpartisan watchdog group. OpenSecrets.
The longer climate initiatives are delayed, the more drastic the initiatives need to be to achieve the goals set by the president.
Today’s announcements also lacked the executive measures that progressive activists hope to see from the White House hope to see from the White House, including declaring a “climate emergency” they say believes will allow the administration the ability to better utilize the vastness of federal government gains to limit emissions.
At Tuesday’s briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the move was still under review and could take place in the future.
Additional reporting by Deepa Shivaram.
