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With President Biden’s executive order on climate change expected on Wednesday, a growing chorus of officials across the country are encouraging him to take bold action. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that “it might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency,” noting that former President Trump used his emergency powers “for a stupid wall, which wasn't an emergency. But if there ever was an emergency, climate is one.”
At the same time, more than 450 local officials from 43 states signed a letter calling on Biden to set a national goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s land and ocean by 2030. The letter notes that “how we achieve 30x30 is also important,” and lays out six specific aspects to reaching the goal, including honoring tribal sovereignty, supporting locally-led and private conservation efforts, as well as putting low-income communities and communities of color at the forefront of conservation efforts.
The final details of Biden's climate order appear to still be in flux. The Washington Post reports that Biden is poised to impose an indefinite moratorium on new oil and gas leasing, but is leaning against a pause on federal coal leasing.
The sky is not falling
The oil and gas industry has already launched a Chicken Little-inspired campaign to convince the public that a pause on leasing would cost thousands of jobs and mean the end of oil drilling. CWP looked at publicly-available data to show just how disingenuous that argument is. For starters, oil companies aren’t even using a majority of the leases they already have on public lands.
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The climate reality of today is higher temperatures, stronger storms, more destructive wildfires, sea-level rise, acidifying oceans and extended drought. We need a climate security plan for America that climate-proofs American infrastructure and puts climate and clean energy innovation front and center.”
