Biden Considers Declaring Climate Emergency Amid ‘Heat Apocalypse’

With large swaths of the planet currently in the grips of hellish, record-shattering heatwaves and devastating wildfires, U.S. President Joe Biden is reportedly considering declaring a national climate emergency this week as a senator with deep ties to the fossil fuel industry continues to obstruct much-needed renewable energy spending.

Biden’s plans for a possible emergency declaration, first reported late Monday by the Washington Post, come as the White House is facing mounting pressure to take unilateral climate action as its agenda remains stalled in the upper chamber of Congress, hampering U.S. efforts to rein in planet-warming carbon emissions as temperatures soar worldwide.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a coal profiteer who has received more money from the oil and gas industry than any other member of Congress this election cycle, reportedly told Democratic leaders in a closed-door meeting last week that he would not support any new green energy spending. Manchin’s decision threw into serious doubt the majority party’s chances of approving key climate investments ahead of the November midterms.

Proponents argue that a formal climate emergency declaration would allow Biden to take a number of sweeping actions. Without needing congressional approval, he could curb fossil fuel production. He could also accelerate the nation’s transition to renewable energy sources.

In a report published earlier this year, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) noted that an emergency declaration would empower the president to “halt crude oil exports,” “stop oil and gas drilling in the outer continental shelf,” “restrict international trade and private investment in fossil fuels,” and “grow domestic manufacturing for clean energy and transportation,” among other potential actions.

“Biden needs to deploy every executive power, starting with banning crude oil exports,” Jean Su, director of CBD’s Energy Justice Program, wrote on Twitter late Monday. “He can put Manchin’s gaslighting behind us and show the world we have a climate president we can believe in.”

“Critically,” Su added, “a climate emergency declaration would put wind under the sails of all agencies to use their maximum powers possible” to combat runaway warming.

But Saul Levin, a staffer for Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), emphasized that it’s not enough for Biden to simply declare a climate emergency; he must “publicly commit to using its powers immediately.”

“Otherwise, we climate policy staff may have no choice but to put our bodies between Joe Manchin’s greed and the people we serve,” added Levin. “Stand with us—we must win.”

Parts of the U.S. are also enduring scorching temperatures. As the New York Times notes, “Dangerous levels of heat are forecast in the South, West, and Midwest on Tuesday,” and nearly 69 million people reside in areas “expected to have dangerous levels of heat.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org.