Climate Memo Mondays #9
Breaking -- the dawn of a new climate era
| 4:34 PM (3 minutes ago) |
| ||
Dick,
Look, no Sharpie! Just now President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders prioritizing climate. And instead of using a Sharpie to make up facts, he marshalled scientific reality. Together the orders mark a dawn of a new era in which climate gets prioritized by our President.
Now it’s our job to hold him -- and Congress -- accountable.
The executive orders, in a nutshell:
· A pause on new oil and gas leasing on public lands and offshore waters. The pause does not affect existing leases, nor coal.
· A new Climate Conservation Corps
· A buying order to convert all federally owned vehicles -- including the Postal Service -- to electric vehicles
· An environmental justice advisory council
· Another council of advisors on science and technology
· An Earth Day summit
· A directive to end fossil fuel subsidies
· Yet more councils, advisory panels, and task forces on climate
Of course Republicans are screaming, ostensibly on behalf of workers -- the same workers whose clamor for a $15/ hour minimum wage cannot be heard by Republican lawmakers’ ears.
All this puts Biden off to a good start. And yet we have so much work to do, together -- both to ensure these promises come to fruition, and to build on this start. The filibuster seems cemented in place, so climate bills must be passed by skillful maneuvering and massive public pressure. State legislatures may sabotage federal work. Senators still vow to oppose Deb Haaland and other good nominees. The courts could wreak havoc. There’s lots of work to be done, and we intend to be there. But we need your help.
Your fellow climate hawk (still nesting at home),
RL Miller
References:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/27/biden-climate-prders-energy-463051
Climate Hawks Vote
PO Box 141, Agoura Hills, CA 91376-0141