With images of spinning wind turbines behind him, President Biden described how climate change is already impacting communities across the US, and increasing in frequency.
He called out Republican climate deniers, ticked off administration initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Chips and Science Act,, and outlined how 6 billion dollars from the IRA will be mobilized specifically to address needs like hardening transmission lines, and funding flood control efforts in local communities.
Climate change harms Americans physically, mentally and financially, often hitting those who have done the least to cause it, including Black people facing floods in the South and minorities enduring searing heat in cities, a federal report said on Tuesday.
More than a dozen U.S. agencies and about 750 scientists produced the National Climate Assessment, meant to crystallize the top science on the problem and communicate it to wide audiences, President Joe Biden said at the White House.
“This assessment shows us in clear scientific terms that climate change is impacting all regions, all sectors of the Untied States,” he said. “It warns that more action is still badly needed. We can’t be complacent.”
This year set a record for extreme weather events that cost over $1 billion, with costly floods, fires and storms occurring roughly every three weeks. In the 1980s, by comparison, the United States experienced a billion-dollar disaster only once every four months.
Climate change is increasingly imposing costs on Americans, as prices rise for weather-related insurance or certain foods. Medical costs are also going up as more people struggle with climate consequences such as extreme heat, the report said.
Biden said he had seen firsthand the devastating toll of climate change when visiting areas hit by historic hurricanes, floods and wildfires, and said it was “foolish” for some Republicans to deny the impacts of climate change.