President Joe Biden may be skipping the global climate talks abroad, but that didn’t stop him from addressing the issue back home as he stumped in Colorado this week to criticize Republican lawmakers for impeding his climate efforts.
Speaking Wednesday at a Colorado wind tower manufacturing plant, Biden took aim at U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican firebrand who has called the dangers of climate change “fake news” and referred to the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes some $370 billion for climate efforts, as “a scam.”
“The historic investments we’re celebrating today is in Congresswoman Boebert’s district,” Biden said at the press event. “She, along with every single Republican colleague, voted against the law that made these investments and jobs possible. And that’s not hyperbole, that’s a fact. And then she voted to repeal key parts of this law.”
While climate change is a settled matter among scientists, U.S. politicians continue to debate the issue, often heatedly. The result is that Congress remains largely gridlocked at the federal level, while states create a patchwork of varying policies that—depending on the political leanings of elected officials—either advance or hinder the effort to slash the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Democrats widely agree that addressing climate change is a top priority, but Republicans have broadly rejected nearly all efforts to tackle the issue, with some party leaders instead vowing to wage war on so-called “woke” progressive policies.
Evidence of this tumultuous dynamic isn’t hard to find.
In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed a slate of climate related bills into law, one of which requires the state’s power companies to produce all of their electricity from clean energy sources such as wind or solar by 2040. And in New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy last week adopted a new rule that will ban all new sales of gas-powered cars in the state by 2035, joining 10 other states that adopted the aggressive climate policy originating from California.
Connecticut, however, failed to adopt that same gasoline car ban when Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont withdrew the proposal this week after learning it lacked Republican support in a key legislative committee. In Texas, which has long been controlled by the GOP, the influential State Board of Education voted two weeks ago to reject new science textbooks that accurately described the causes and effects of climate change, handing a win to Republicans in the state who said the books painted fossil fuels in too poor a light.
Even in progressive havens like New York, which has one of the most aggressive climate laws in the nation, political infighting between lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle threatens to slow climate action. In May, Americans for Fair Treatment, a nonprofit with funding ties to hard-right conservative groups, including think tanks established by oil barons Charles and David Koch, sued the city after former Mayor Bill de Blasio decided in 2018 to divest the city’s public pensions from fossil fuel holdings.
The group, whose lead counsel is Trump-era Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, argues that the city’s divestment decision was “politically motivated” and violates fiduciary obligations. And if successful, the legal challenge could provide fresh ammunition for Republicans who have targeted climate-friendly investment funds in recent years, hoping to keep money flowing to fossil fuel companies. That case will soon go before the New York Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, as delegates from nearly 200 nations prepared for what could be one of the most important global climate conferences ever convened, members of Congress argued in a House subcommittee hearing over whether the United States should even consider transitioning away from fossil fuels at all.
“This forced transition will leave our economy dangerously dependent upon supply chains from China and make energy less affordable, less reliable for Americans,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington state. “We should instead be working to build on our remarkable legacy.”
Considering the U.S. is on pace to produce more oil in 2023 than any other year, it would appear that legacy is as strong as ever.
More Top Climate News
Day One of COP28 Ends With Landmark Deal on “Loss and Damage” Fund: The first day of the United Nations’ global climate talks in Dubai ended on a hopeful note when member nations agreed upon the details of a landmark fund that aims to help developing countries better adapt to the consequences of climate change, Fiona Harvey and Nina Lakhani report for the Guardian. The agreement was met with a standing ovation from delegates, with nations pledging to donate nearly half a billion dollars in initial startup funding. The EU alone pledged $245 million, and the U.S. pledged $24.5 million.
This Detroit Street Can Recharge Your Electric Vehicle As You Drive: In what’s believed to be the nation’s first, a street near downtown Detroit can now wirelessly charge electric vehicles as they drive over it, Corey Williams reports for the Associated Press. Michigan transportation officials on Wednesday demonstrated the new pilot project, which works by charging vehicles equipped with receivers that pull power from the copper inductive charging coils installed underneath the road’s surface. Officials said the roadway is safe for pedestrians, motorists and animals.
Thousands of American Car Dealers Say Customers Aren’t Ready for Electric Cars: Nearly 4,000 U.S. car dealers fear that, despite deep price cuts and government incentives, American customers aren’t yet interested in purchasing electric vehicles, which they say are stacking up on their lots, Joann Muller reports for Axios. In a letter sent Tuesday, the dealers urged President Biden to tap the brakes on proposed emissions regulations designed to ensure that two-thirds of new passenger cars are all-electric by 2032, saying initial enthusiasm for EVs “has stalled.”
Today’s Indicator
13.2 million
That’s how many barrels of oil the United States has produced every day since the beginning of October, an all-time high for the nation, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. As of now, that rate shows no signs of slowing.
Kristoffer Tigue
Reporter, New York City
Kristoffer Tigue is a New York City-based reporter for Inside Climate News, where he covers environmental justice issues, writes the Today’s Climate newsletter and manages ICN’s social media. His work has been published in Reuters, Scientific American, Public Radio International and CNBC. Tigue holds a Master’s degree in journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism, where his feature writing won several Missouri Press Association awards.
