LA Times urges Biden to use executive powers to declare a 'national climate emergency'
The Inflation Reduction Act, which passed the Senate on Sunday, included billions in new climate spending
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Los Angeles Times editorial board published a piece Friday calling on President Biden to declare a climate emergency, which would empower him to utilize more executive authority to curb carbon emissions in the United States.
The editors pondered whether the Inflation Reduction Act, which just passed exclusively by Democrats in the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris's tiebreaking vote, would appease Biden's appetite for a green energy agenda and determine further, more heavy-handed executive regulations.
"With congressional action now looking more likely, will Biden’s promise to confront the climate crisis with presidential proclamations, executive orders and regulatory power go unfulfilled?" the editors asked.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Joe Biden speaks at the former Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts, on July 20, 2022. (M. Scott Brauer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"The [climate change] threat now is so dire that we need Biden to deliver on his pledge," they wrote. "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."
"And because declaring a national emergency would unlock additional tools and resources, he should do it," they continued.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Others argue that Biden's climate agenda has raised prices for consumers and left America dependent on Russia, which has funded climate change activist groups in America and Europe to undermine energy independence.
The editors argued that while "the Inflation Reduction Act agreed to by Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) would be the biggest climate action ever taken by Congress," this does not matter much because "the bar is low" as "Congress has never passed significant climate legislation."
President Biden commemorated the 57th anniversary of the signing of Medicare. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
"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," they wrote about the Inflation Reduction Act, which will have an "indistinguishable" effect on inflation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Despite the editors supporting a hypothetical Biden climate change declaration of emergency, they condemned then-President Trump's 2019 border emergency executive order. "But unlike Trump’s misuse of that authority for his wall, there is actually a legitimate legal basis for calling climate change a national emergency," they wrote.
They are "concerned about the risks of Biden doing too little, especially in light of his uneven and contradictory climate record."
President Biden clasps his hands while listening to questions from reporters. (AP)
The board complained that he has not imposed enough regulations to force the country to transition to cleaner sources of energy and said, "It’s time Biden adopted an all-hands-on-deck approach to this spiraling catastrophe."
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Multiple catastrophic climate predictions over the past three decades have failed to materialize.