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Biden announces climate change investment during Bay Area visit

President Joe Biden
Prachatai
/
Flickr / Creative Commons
President Joe Biden

The president's announcement came at Palo Alto's Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center and Preserve, which he called a "success story" in the current push to better prepare for climate change-induced natural disasters, like flooding and extreme weather.

He said the wetlands serve as a "critical buffer" between rising sea levels and at-risk communities, protecting homes and infrastructure against flooding while also absorbing carbon pollution.

The fund allocation comes as part of Biden's "Investing in America" agenda, which is investing billions into sectors like infrastructure, clean energy, semiconductors and biotechnology.

Biden said his administration is "taking the most aggressive climate action ever.” The President cited historic investments in developing clean energy by reducing dependence on fossil fuels, which he argued would make communities better able to withstand the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.

Biden noted that natural disasters cost $165 billion in America last year alone. He said much of this investment is made in the context of the Colorado River Basin crisis, and will be geared toward drought and wildfire-related disasters that are increasingly hitting the Western U.S.

Earlier on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Anna Eshoo and other lawmakers greeted Biden moments after he disembarked from Air Force One at Moffett Field in Mountain View. Biden then went on to attend two re-election campaign fundraising events in the Bay Area, one in Los Gatos and another in Atherton.

Sunni M. Khalid is a veteran of more than 40 years in journalism, having worked in print, radio, television, and web journalism.