Joe Biden has unveiled a new plan to push billions of dollars to US cities and states to help people cope better with extreme heat. However, he didn't declare a climate emergency.
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Biden outlined the new actions in a speech on Wednesday at a former coal plant in Massachusetts, which is now part of an offshore windfarm project. “As president, I have a responsibility to act with urgency and resolve when our nation faces clear and present danger,” Biden said. “And that’s what climate change is about. It is, not figuratively, a clear and present danger. The health of our citizens and our communities is literally at stake.”

His initiatives are intended for at helping salvage the president’s tattered climate agenda, which has withstood a torrid month. Biden, speaking from a lectern set up on a rock pile to an audience that included Democratic legislators, said: “Climate change is an existential threat to our nation and the world. So my message today is this: since Congress is not acting as it should - and these guys here are, but we’re not getting many Republican votes - this is an emergency. An emergency. And I will look at it that way.

Biden’s actions include $2.3bn in funding to help communities prepare for heatwaves, droughts, and floods, a new guidance that allows the federal government to help provide cooling centers and air conditioning, and new planned offshore wind energy leases for the Gulf of Mexico coast.

Source: The Guardian