Joe Biden speaks during a tour of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
President Joe Biden tried to step up his household spending plans in Colorado on Tuesday, warning about the dangers of climate change, while highlighting how his clean-energy proposals also create well-paying jobs. Will be
The visit to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Flatiron campus outside Denver kicked off a two-day swing west of the president, and gave Biden a chance to continue with the need to link his spending package to the immediate threat posed by climate change.
“Here’s the good news: Whatever is caused by humans can be solved by humans,” Biden said. He considered the need for a clean-energy future “an economic imperative and a national security imperative” and said there was no time to waste as the effects of climate change grew more severe by the year.
Biden said more than $100 billion will be lost in extreme weather events this year and outlined his goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, using electricity that was completely carbon pollution-free 15 years ago.
“We can do this, we can do it all in a way that creates good jobs, reduces costs to consumers and businesses, and makes us global leaders,” the president said.
Biden talked about “more jobs for the economy” on an earlier tour as he examined a giant windmill blade on the ground outside the lab and received a demonstration of wind turbine technology.
And, acutely aware of the delicate work underway in Washington to prepare the details of its infrastructure-plus spending package, he pointed to Democratic legislators for the tour, saying, “They will get it through Congress.” are doing.”
Biden spent Monday receiving briefings on the devastating wildfire season in Boise, Idaho and Sacramento, Calif., and looking at the damage caused by the Caldor Fire to communities around Lake Tahoe.
“We can’t ignore the reality that these wildfires are being supercharged by climate change,” Biden said, noting that the catastrophic weather does not strike at the basis of partisan ideology. “It’s not about the red or blue states. It’s about the fire. Just sets the fire.”
During his visit, Biden organized wildfire across the region as an argument for his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and an additional $3.5 trillion in spending. The president said that every dollar spent on “resilience” would save $6 in future costs. And he made the case that reconstruction should go beyond simply restoring damaged systems and instead ensure that communities can cope with such crises.
“In the end it’s not about red states or blue states. A drought or a fire doesn’t see an asset line,” Biden said. “It doesn’t matter, which party you belong to … Yes, We face a crisis, but we face a crisis with unprecedented opportunity.”
Climate provisions in Biden’s plans include tax incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles, investments to shift the economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable sources such as wind and solar power, and the creation of a civilian climate core.
Biden aims to eliminate pollution from fossil fuels in the electricity sector by 2035, and from the US economy overall by 2050.
The president’s two-day western swing comes at a turning point for the central issue of his legislative agenda. Capitol Hill legislators are working to gather more plan details from infrastructure — and how to pay for it, a concern not just for Republicans.
With Republican opposition unified in Congress, Biden needs to clear the doubts of two leading centrist Democrats in a closely divided Senate. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kirsten Cinemas of Arizona have expressed concern about the size of the $3.5 trillion spending package.
In California, Biden responded to those concerned about the size of the plan, saying the cost “could be” as much as $3.5 trillion and would be spread over 10 years, a period during which the economy is expected to grow. He also emphasized that, when it comes to addressing climate change, “we have to think big.”
“Thinking small is a recipe for disaster,” he said.
The 100-member Senate is divided equally between Democrats and Republicans. Given the GOP’s solid opposition, Biden’s plan cannot pass the Senate without Munchkin or cinema’s backing. The legislative push comes at a critical time for Biden, who saw his polling numbers see a spike after the United States pulled out of Afghanistan and a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
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