The White House is reportedly considering declaring a national climate emergency to empower President Joe Biden to take broad executive action to address what it deems a crisis. It’s not the first time the administration has floated the move.
In July 2022 when Biden’s Build Back Better legislative proposal, which included $500 billion in green initiatives, was stymied in Congress, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters a climate emergency declaration could be forthcoming.
“I would not plan an announcement this week on a national climate emergency,” she said, but “everything is on the table.”
NOW – White House: “No announcement on ‘national climate emergency’ this week,” but “everything is on the table.” pic.twitter.com/vQFVBclRP1
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 19, 2022
However, in August 2022 Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a scaled down version of Build Back Better, chock full of green spending.
The administration called it “the most ambitious investment in combating the climate crisis in world history.”
But, it should be noted, the green initiatives included in the law are costing almost three times more than the administration forecasted, Bloomberg reported in August 2023.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, working with the investment firm Goldman Sachs, updated their estimated cost of the IRA’s green initiatives from $385 billion over a 10-year period to in excess of $1 trillion over a 10-year period in April 2023.
White House Again Considering Declaring a Climate Emergency
Bloomberg reported last month, “White House officials have renewed discussions about potentially declaring a national climate emergency, an unprecedented step that could unlock federal powers to stifle oil development.”
“Top advisers to President Joe Biden have recently resumed talks about the merits of such a move, which could be used to curtail crude exports, suspend offshore drilling and curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because a final decision has not been made,” the news outlet added.
Fox Business Network also confirmed in late April, “The White House … is now considering declaring a national climate emergency.”
Marc Morano, a former Republican political aide, told the network’s Sean Duffy, “This is the serious story of the day. NBC News has reported that if Joe Biden declared a national climate emergency, he would have COVID-like powers under that emergency, and [NBC] also compared the climate emergency powers to the 9-11 emergency powers.”
“The White House is now considering declaring a national climate emergency.”
“If Joe Biden declares a national climate emergency, he would have COVID-like powers. He would impose the Green New Deal on America without a vote in Congress”
The AP is urging other news outlets to… pic.twitter.com/aGOkG9tC4X
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) April 23, 2024
Politico reported in 2022 ahead of passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, “Many of Biden’s supporters in Congress are urging him to go bold nonetheless, pointing to the record heat waves melting much of the globe, wildfires raging across the U.S., and Colorado River flows dwindling from the worst megadrought in 1,200 years. Those are signs that the time is past for mild responses to the climate crisis, lawmakers like Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) said.”
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts argued, “The president has an ability to protect our country when our national security is threatened.”
Is the climate crisis real?
Undercutting their argument that manmade climate change led to the wildfires and drought out west in 2022, last year the wildfire season was fairly tame, according to The Washington Post.
Further, while the reservoirs in the Colorado River basin, including Lake Meade, had grown critically low in 2022, The Los Angeles Times reported in March that thanks to a wet year and other conservation measures, the water supply in the region should be good for at least the next couple of years.
“The water level in Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir, has risen nearly 29 feet over the past year, and the lake near Las Vegas is now at 37 percent of capacity,” the news outlet said.
Most of Nevada’s reservoirs have filled back up to at least 80 percent, and some like Lake Tahoe are expected to hit 100 capacity thanks to a “hardy winter snowpack and generous spring showers,” the Reno Gazette Journal reported.
Meanwhile, Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, which had been below 40 percent capacity two years ago, is now almost full for the second year in a row.
Shasta Lake is expected to reach capacity for the second consecutive year.
After rising 12 feet from March 1 to 26, the lake now stands at 95% of its full capacity, with just 10 feet needed to reach the limit. The Bureau of Reclamation, the office tasked with managing Shasta… pic.twitter.com/sdtJPwwJgQ
— Active NorCal (@ActiveNorCal) April 14, 2024
These changes came with no declaration of a climate emergency.
Actions Biden Could Take If He Declared a Climate Emergency
The New York Times reported that if Biden declared a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act, he could curb fossil fuel imports and ban exports.
Further, he could suspend offshore oil drilling.
The administration has already taken executive action in this regard in its Five-Year Plan for offshore drilling, according to Oceana.org.
“The Five-Year Plan process began in 2018 under President Trump, who proposed 47 offshore drilling lease sales. The plan was cut down to 11 proposed sales in 2022 under President Biden, who ultimately trimmed it down to three lease sales in the final program — the lowest number of leases ever offered in a Five-Year Plan,” the environmental organization said in December.
Politico’s E&E News reported it is the smallest offshore oil program in the history of the United States, only including leases in the Gulf of Mexico, not in the Atlantic, Pacific or Arctic Oceans.
These actions are likely to spike gas prices even further.
Biden could also use the Defense Production Act to require companies to build more clean energy transportation technologies.
The Times noted, “His administration already invoked the act last month to ramp up the production of solar panels, insulation and heat pumps.”
Limitations of Declaring a Climate Emergency
If Biden declared a climate emergency, it could not go on indefinitely and almost certainly would face court challenges.
Former President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, which Biden kept in place until May 2023.
The move came only after Congress passed a resolution calling for it to end earlier that year, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. Supreme Court would also be likely to rule against an expansive use of executive power, should Biden declare a climate emergency.
In June 2022, the Court struck down power plant regulations put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency to combat greenhouse gases, which would have shut down coal-powered energy production.
Relying on its “major questions” doctrine, the court said that the administration lacked the executive power to make sweeping changes in how the nation produces its energy without specific authorization from Congress.
Biden may declare a climate emergency in a bid to energize the base of his party ahead of November’s elections. Its impact could be painful to Americans’ wallets in the short term. But Congress, the courts or the next president could reverse whatever executive moves Biden makes.
