Two U.S. Senate Democrats urged President Joe Biden on
\nMonday to declare a climate emergency and use the Defense Production Act to
\nramp up production of a wide range of renewable energy products and systems
\nincluding solar panels.<\/p>\n
Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jeff Merkley, speaking days
\nafter an effort to advance climate legislation failed in the Senate, also
\ncalled on Biden to use the White House “bully pulpit” to draw
\nattention to climate-related crises in the United States.<\/p>\n
“It is time for the Biden administration to pivot to a
\nvery aggressive climate strategy,” Merkley said.<\/p>\n
Biden said last week that he would take unspecified steps to
\nreduce climate emissions after Democratic Senator Joe Manchin withdrew support
\nfor climate legislation that Democrats had hoped to pass before Congress leaves
\nWashington for its August recess. In the evenly divided Senate, Manchin’s
\nsupport was critical for passage of the legislation, which lacked any
\nRepublican backing.<\/p>\n
Manchin and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer had been
\nin talks about $300 billion in tax credits for industries including solar and
\nwind power, carbon capture from power plants, and nuclear power, which
\ngenerates virtually emissions-free electricity.<\/p>\n
Whitehouse said he spoke to the White House about the need
\nto move forward with aggressive executive action, but shared no details.
\n“I’ve talked to the White House about going on offense and being
\naggressive and doing all the things that it is within the executive powers to
\ndo that have not so far been done,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Whitehouse said the conversation tracked his public call for
\ninitiatives ranging from tighter carbon regulations for vehicles and power
\nplants to carbon border tariffs and potential federal litigation against the fossil
\nfuel industry. It was not clear, however, how far the White House could go,
\nafter the Supreme Court last month effectively restricted the Environmental
\nProtection Agency from issuing emissions rules involving matters of major
\n“economic and political significance.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two U.S. 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 an effort to advance climate legislation failed in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n