Two US Senate Democrats urged President Joe Biden on Monday to declare a climate emergency and use the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of a wide range of renewable energy products and systems, including solar panels.Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jeff Merkley, speaking days after efforts to pass climate legislation failed in the Senate, also called on Biden to use the White House’s “bully pulpit” to call attention to climate crises in the United States.”It’s time for the Biden administration to turn to a very aggressive climate strategy,” Merkley said.
Biden said last week he would take unspecified steps to reduce climate emissions after Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin withdrew support for climate legislation Democrats had hoped to pass before Congress leaves Washington for the August recess. In an evenly divided Senate, Manchin’s support was crucial to the passage of the legislation, which lacked any Republican support.Manchin and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer negotiated $300 billion in tax breaks for industries including solar and wind power, carbon capture from power plants and nuclear power, which produces electricity with virtually no emissions.
Whitehouse said he had spoken with the White House about the need to move forward with aggressive executive action, but did not provide details. “I’ve talked to the White House about getting on the offensive and being aggressive and doing all the things that are within the executive authority to do that haven’t been done yet,” he said. Whitehouse said the conversation followed his public call for initiatives ranging from tighter carbon regulations for vehicles and power plants to carbon border tariffs and potential federal lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry.But it was unclear how far the White House could go after the Supreme Court last month effectively barred the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing emissions rules on matters of great “economic and political importance.”
