US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday a $2.3 billion package to help build the infrastructure needed for extreme weather and natural disasters.
But Biden has not officially declared a climate emergency that would give him more power.
The president spoke in the US state of Massachusetts at a time when Europe and North America are facing a heatwave with record temperatures.
Tens of millions of people in more than 20 states in the US are under heat warning this week.
“Climate change is literally an existential threat to our nation and the world,” the president said Wednesday in front of a former coal-fired power plant in the city of Somerset. “The health of our citizens and communities is at stake. That’s why we must act.”
Biden said the fund will be allocated to expand flood control, support utilities, renovate buildings and help families pay for heating and cooling costs.
The money comes from a budget of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The White House said disadvantaged communities will have priority in the use of resources.
States will receive US$385 million (more than R$2 billion) to finance air conditioning units in homes and community cooling centres.
The government also plans to provide additional support for offshore wind power development in the Gulf of Mexico and to implement new labor standards to protect workers from extreme weather conditions.
Biden has yet to formally declare a federal emergency, though he has said he will treat extreme weather conditions as an “emergency.”
The president is under increasing pressure from Democrats and environmental groups to declare a state of emergency after West Virginia State Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat, said last week he would not support legislation aimed at tackling climate change in an attack on Biden’s plans. Manchin said he is more concerned about rising inflation in the US.
Biden said on Wednesday he plans to announce more executive action in the coming weeks as Congress is “not acting as it should”.
Our children and grandchildren rely on us,” he said. “If we don’t hold [a mudança climática] Below 1.5°C, we will lose everything. We won’t have another chance to turn this around.”
Analysis by BBC News weather reporter Esme Stallard
President Biden took office by promising to restore US credibility in climate action and reverse the environmental policy “setbacks” of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
On its first day, he signed an executive order for the US to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords. In April last year, the US promised to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030.
But the way to turn those words into reality has been difficult for Biden. This latest round of executive orders illustrates the problems climate policy faces in getting it to follow normal paths.
Ahead of the climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Biden promised the US would provide $11.4 billion a year in climate finance through 2024 – to help developing countries confront and prepare for climate change. But in March, it only received $1 billion from Congress—just a third more than Trump-era spending.
Wednesday’s executive orders show Biden is determined. But perhaps he is reluctant to go too far in exercising such presidential powers.
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency lost some of its power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision after a lawsuit in which 19 coal producing states were concerned about job losses.
Time will tell how successful Biden can be under his presidency.
– Text originally published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62249618
source: Noticias
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