SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Climate activists participate in a climate march from Freedom Plaza to Capitol Hill on October 15, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Activists Cheer LA Times Editorial Board's Call for Biden to Declare Climate Emergency
"There's little chance we'll look back decades from now and say the president did too much, or that our alarms about the imperiled planet rang too loud," the board warned. "We'll only regret that we didn't act more aggressively or sooner."
Aug 05, 2022
Climate campaigners on Friday welcomed the Los Angeles Times editorial board calling on President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency and deploy the full might of his executive powers to curb the global crisis.
"It's time Biden adopted an all-hands-on-deck approach to this spiraling catastrophe," said the LA Times editorial board. "There's little chance we'll look back decades from now and say the president did too much, or that our alarms about the imperiled planet rang too loud. We'll only regret that we didn't act more aggressively or sooner."
While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) Inflation Reduction Act--expected to be passed in the Senate and signed into law by Biden--is acknowledged as a step in the right direction with various renewable energy measures, environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers have criticized the bill for its blatant inadequacies and inclusion of billions of dollars in new tax breaks and subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.
"The threat now is so dire that we need Biden to deliver on his pledge. That means using every executive and administrative power legally available to him."
The LA Times editorial board said the IRA was incongruous with the U.S. pledge under the Paris climate agreement to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
The Inflation Reduction Act "would be the biggest climate action ever taken by Congress. But the bar is low, because Congress has never passed significant climate legislation, despite more than three decades of warnings about the perils of inaction," the editorial board said. "Signing it into law will only get us part of the way to Biden's goal of slashing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, leaving our nation's pledge under the Paris climate agreement out of reach without more action by his administration."
Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity--who welcomed the editorial on Twitter Friday--co-authored a February report that laid out specific actions the president could take under a climate emergency declaration.
The report outlines that under the Defense Production Act, National Emergencies Act, and Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Biden could:
- Halt crude oil exports;
- Stop oil and gas drilling in the outer continental shelf;
- Restrict international trade and private investment in fossil fuels;
- Grow domestic manufacturing for clean energy and transportation to speed the nationwide transition off fossil fuels; and
- Build resilient and distributed renewable energy systems in climate-vulnerable communities.
The LA Times editorial board joins a chorus of climate advocates and Democratic lawmakers, who for months have demanded the president--who has thus far refused--declare a climate emergency amid the ongoing crisis of unprecented wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and record-breaking heatwaves.
"We, together, are calling on President Biden to use his executive power to declare a climate emergency," said Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) at a political event in July. "Movements, activists, scientists, and young people have long called for the United States to recognize climate change as the emergency that it is."
Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) asked at the July event, "What the hell are we waiting for?"
The LA Times editorial board also urged Biden to take further action "through federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, which has not yet completed a slew of regulations to cut pollution from power plants, trucks, buildings, and heavy industry," noting it doesn't require an emergency declaration to accomplish those goals.
"The threat now is so dire that we need Biden to deliver on his pledge. That means using every executive and administrative power legally available to him to protect Americans from climate-fueled disasters, boost renewable energy, and shift away from fossil fuels," said the editorial board. "And because declaring a national emergency would unlock additional tools and resources, he should do it."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Climate campaigners on Friday welcomed the Los Angeles Times editorial board calling on President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency and deploy the full might of his executive powers to curb the global crisis.
"It's time Biden adopted an all-hands-on-deck approach to this spiraling catastrophe," said the LA Times editorial board. "There's little chance we'll look back decades from now and say the president did too much, or that our alarms about the imperiled planet rang too loud. We'll only regret that we didn't act more aggressively or sooner."
While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) Inflation Reduction Act--expected to be passed in the Senate and signed into law by Biden--is acknowledged as a step in the right direction with various renewable energy measures, environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers have criticized the bill for its blatant inadequacies and inclusion of billions of dollars in new tax breaks and subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.
"The threat now is so dire that we need Biden to deliver on his pledge. That means using every executive and administrative power legally available to him."
The LA Times editorial board said the IRA was incongruous with the U.S. pledge under the Paris climate agreement to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
The Inflation Reduction Act "would be the biggest climate action ever taken by Congress. But the bar is low, because Congress has never passed significant climate legislation, despite more than three decades of warnings about the perils of inaction," the editorial board said. "Signing it into law will only get us part of the way to Biden's goal of slashing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, leaving our nation's pledge under the Paris climate agreement out of reach without more action by his administration."
Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity--who welcomed the editorial on Twitter Friday--co-authored a February report that laid out specific actions the president could take under a climate emergency declaration.
The report outlines that under the Defense Production Act, National Emergencies Act, and Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Biden could:
- Halt crude oil exports;
- Stop oil and gas drilling in the outer continental shelf;
- Restrict international trade and private investment in fossil fuels;
- Grow domestic manufacturing for clean energy and transportation to speed the nationwide transition off fossil fuels; and
- Build resilient and distributed renewable energy systems in climate-vulnerable communities.
The LA Times editorial board joins a chorus of climate advocates and Democratic lawmakers, who for months have demanded the president--who has thus far refused--declare a climate emergency amid the ongoing crisis of unprecented wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and record-breaking heatwaves.
"We, together, are calling on President Biden to use his executive power to declare a climate emergency," said Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) at a political event in July. "Movements, activists, scientists, and young people have long called for the United States to recognize climate change as the emergency that it is."
Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) asked at the July event, "What the hell are we waiting for?"
The LA Times editorial board also urged Biden to take further action "through federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, which has not yet completed a slew of regulations to cut pollution from power plants, trucks, buildings, and heavy industry," noting it doesn't require an emergency declaration to accomplish those goals.
"The threat now is so dire that we need Biden to deliver on his pledge. That means using every executive and administrative power legally available to him to protect Americans from climate-fueled disasters, boost renewable energy, and shift away from fossil fuels," said the editorial board. "And because declaring a national emergency would unlock additional tools and resources, he should do it."
Climate campaigners on Friday welcomed the Los Angeles Times editorial board calling on President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency and deploy the full might of his executive powers to curb the global crisis.
"It's time Biden adopted an all-hands-on-deck approach to this spiraling catastrophe," said the LA Times editorial board. "There's little chance we'll look back decades from now and say the president did too much, or that our alarms about the imperiled planet rang too loud. We'll only regret that we didn't act more aggressively or sooner."
While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) Inflation Reduction Act--expected to be passed in the Senate and signed into law by Biden--is acknowledged as a step in the right direction with various renewable energy measures, environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers have criticized the bill for its blatant inadequacies and inclusion of billions of dollars in new tax breaks and subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.
"The threat now is so dire that we need Biden to deliver on his pledge. That means using every executive and administrative power legally available to him."
The LA Times editorial board said the IRA was incongruous with the U.S. pledge under the Paris climate agreement to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
The Inflation Reduction Act "would be the biggest climate action ever taken by Congress. But the bar is low, because Congress has never passed significant climate legislation, despite more than three decades of warnings about the perils of inaction," the editorial board said. "Signing it into law will only get us part of the way to Biden's goal of slashing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, leaving our nation's pledge under the Paris climate agreement out of reach without more action by his administration."
Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity--who welcomed the editorial on Twitter Friday--co-authored a February report that laid out specific actions the president could take under a climate emergency declaration.
The report outlines that under the Defense Production Act, National Emergencies Act, and Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Biden could:
- Halt crude oil exports;
- Stop oil and gas drilling in the outer continental shelf;
- Restrict international trade and private investment in fossil fuels;
- Grow domestic manufacturing for clean energy and transportation to speed the nationwide transition off fossil fuels; and
- Build resilient and distributed renewable energy systems in climate-vulnerable communities.
The LA Times editorial board joins a chorus of climate advocates and Democratic lawmakers, who for months have demanded the president--who has thus far refused--declare a climate emergency amid the ongoing crisis of unprecented wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and record-breaking heatwaves.
"We, together, are calling on President Biden to use his executive power to declare a climate emergency," said Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) at a political event in July. "Movements, activists, scientists, and young people have long called for the United States to recognize climate change as the emergency that it is."
Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) asked at the July event, "What the hell are we waiting for?"
The LA Times editorial board also urged Biden to take further action "through federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, which has not yet completed a slew of regulations to cut pollution from power plants, trucks, buildings, and heavy industry," noting it doesn't require an emergency declaration to accomplish those goals.
"The threat now is so dire that we need Biden to deliver on his pledge. That means using every executive and administrative power legally available to him to protect Americans from climate-fueled disasters, boost renewable energy, and shift away from fossil fuels," said the editorial board. "And because declaring a national emergency would unlock additional tools and resources, he should do it."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.