During an interview with NPR’s 1A podcast released on Monday, White House National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi stated that President Joe Biden has “not been afraid to use emergency tools where they’re justified” on climate, and his use of executive power has been “underappreciated.” Zaidi also stated that “It’s really important that we make irreversible progress as quickly as we can” on climate.
Zaidi said, “From day one of his administration, the President has treated the climate crisis as an emergency. He joined the Paris Climate Accords, set ambitious goals, passed historic legislation, and has used emergency tools, like the Defense Production Act, to deliver the resources we need to [combat] this urgent crisis. And he continues to look at additional tools and resources, authorities that he has to bring more resources to bear on this urgent, era-defining crisis that we have, and, frankly, unlock the economic opportunity associated with taking on climate change in this bold way.”
He added, “The President has a number of tools that he is using right now, and I think they go underappreciated. We talk a lot about the Inflation Reduction Act, but the President’s actually taking several hundred executive actions, including using his tools under the Clean Air Act to set greenhouse gas limits for power plants, for tailpipe emissions. He’s setting standards for — even for procurement in heavy industry for cement, asphalt, flat glass. So, we’re going after emissions everywhere they’re found in the economy and finding better ways to produce the things we need to run the economy without putting pollution into the sky. And I think, whether it’s the Defense Production Act or the tools he’s used to jump-start the domestic solar industry, the President’s not been afraid to use emergency tools where they’re justified to propel us forward in tackling this crisis.”
Host Jenn White then asked, “You mentioned executive actions, which can be overturned if there is a new president after the upcoming election, and it makes me wonder whether the President is continuing to work with Congress, or in what ways he’s trying to work with Congress to continue to combat climate change?”
Zaidi answered, “It’s really important that we make irreversible progress as quickly as we can. And when I think about the over 100 clean energy factories that have been announced just since the IRA was signed into law. That steel that’s going into the ground, those factories are going to continue to move forward. We’ve seen 10-12 million homes worth of clean electricity come online since the President took office. The number of EVs on the road has — we [have] tripled the number of sales, we’ve doubled the number of charging stations. We’ve doubled the number of EVs that are being offered. That’s really powerful progress. It’s going to be hard to turn around. But, let’s be clear, there are congressional Republicans who are working to try to do just that.”
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