President Joe Biden said last week he would take “strong executive action” on climate, but did not provide details on what action he would take. Officials have repeatedly declined to put a timeline on when to expect any announcements, but have suggested there is an urgency to do something soon.
Asked by CNN if the president was considering declaring a national climate emergency, as reported by The Washington Post, a White House official told CNN that as of Tuesday morning, all options remained on the table and no decision had been made on the matter.
“The president has made it clear that if the Senate does not act to address the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, he will. We are considering all options and no decision has been taken,” the official said.
A national emergency declaration would give the Biden administration greater freedom to take action and use government resources to address climate-related issues, including funding mitigation efforts and strengthening regulations.
Executive action would answer urgent calls from many progressives for Biden to act after last week’s legislative setback, even though Biden is limited in his ability to effect meaningful change, especially after the Supreme Court last month limited the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants.
And all of Biden’s executive actions could be quickly overturned by a future Republican president.
Still, White House officials pointed to upcoming executive action to demonstrate Biden’s commitment to the climate crisis.
Biden will take executive action on climate aimed at “accelerating” US efforts to combat climate change while working to lower gas pump prices for Americans, Special Presidential Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos said on Tuesday Hochstein.
“We need to take every possible measure to accelerate all the work we’re doing to make sure we can deal with the extraordinary climate crisis the world is facing,” Hochstein said during an interview with John Berman on ” “A New Day” on CNN.
Hochstein did not elaborate on the specific measures Biden wants to take, but hinted at some of the administration’s goals.
“We have to do two things at the same time, and that’s what the president wants to do. And that is to accelerate the energy transition, to get us to move much faster in the deployment of renewable energy in the production and deployment of electric vehicles, but at the same time we realize that we have to do this in a way that still allows lower pump prices, lower energy prices, general electricity, gasoline, diesel,” Hochstein said.
Hochstein declined to say whether Biden would declare a national climate emergency. But he said the administration really “wants to see the American industry increase oil production,” warning about the balance between reducing prices and the effects of climate change.
“We have to make that differentiation to make sure that the American consumer has what they need to grow our economy and the global economy, but not to step in and jeopardize the climate work that we’re trying to do , to make sure we are on a better footing to accelerate the transition,” he said.
Economic adviser Jared Bernstein told CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday: “If (the president) can’t find a legislative path to clean energy, the urgency of the problem is so significant that, as he said Friday, he will find an executive order and the path to changing the rules to get there.”
Bernstein reviewed the options Biden has already taken on climate change that could be strengthened with upcoming action.
“He has already discovered this path. He will continue on it. He invoked the Defense Production Act to increase clean energy production in this country. He helped launch the offshore wind industry. He set the toughest emissions standards He’ll continue to pursue with or without Congress, he said.
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