On this edition of Your Call, we're discussing the future of the climate crisis now that West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has refused to support a stripped down version of the Democrats' package to invest billions in clean energy. Manchin has accepted more money from the oil and gas industry than any other senator this election cycle. His decision dooms what could have been the largest climate bill in US history.
Yesterday, President Biden announced $2.3B in funding for FEMA to help communities prepare for disasters by expanding flood control and retrofitting buildings, as well as an expansion of the federal Low Income Energy Assistance Program. The president is also directing the Department of the Interior to propose new offshore wind areas in the Gulf of Mexico, which could power more than 3 million homes.
Climate activists say these are small steps. They want President Biden to declare a climate emergency and stop issuing permits for new fossil fuel infrastructure, including pipelines. Biden said he will announce executive actions in the coming weeks.
Guests:
Maya Golden Krasner, deputy director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, and co-author of The Climate President’s Emergency Powers, a Legal Guide to Bold Climate Action from President Biden
Julie McNamara, deputy policy director of the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists
Tonyisha Harris, associate director of communications and partnerships at Action for the Climate Emergency
Samir Chowdhury, founder and chair of the Youth Climate Action Team
Web Resources:
Common Dreams: Disappointed by Climate Speech, Activists Say People Are Dying 'While Biden Dithers'
The Guardian: Revealed: oil sector’s ‘staggering’ $3bn-a-day profits for last 50 years
The Guardian: Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions
The Washington Post: Biden eyes climate emergency declaration as Democrats demand swift action
CNN: Joe Manchin, who just torpedoed Democrats' climate agenda, has long ties to coal industry
The New York Times: How One Senator Doomed the Democrats’ Climate Plan
Politico: How Manchin used politics to protect his family coal company
The New York Times: Delay as the New Denial: The Latest Republican Tactic to Block Climate Action
