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Joe Biden
Photo: Evan Vucci / dpa
Joe Biden took office in January 2021 with a sensational climate protection agenda.
But there is considerable resistance to his plans, not least in a small but crucial part of his party.
Now, amid the heatwaves in Europe and the US - and in the face of bitter defeats in Congress and in court - Biden has taken new action to fight climate change.
On Wednesday he presented several decrees against global warming and for dealing with the effects of climate change.
$2.3 billion is to be made available so that communities can prepare for future heat, drought or floods.
In addition, funds are to be made available for more effective air conditioning systems and new wind turbines are to be built on the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.
Contrary to the demands of party friends, however, Biden did not declare a climate emergency that would have enabled him to take further measures.
However, he hinted that he might do so soon.
"Climate change is an emergency -- and in the coming weeks, I will use the power I have as President to translate those words into formal, official government action." A White House spokeswoman said Tuesday all options are open Table.
During a visit to an abandoned coal-fired power plant in the state of Massachusetts on Wednesday, Biden warned that climate change was a "clear and present threat".
Not only the health of the people, but also the economy and national security are threatened.
"That's why we have to act."
After entering the White House, he led the United States back into the Paris Climate Agreement, from which his predecessor Donald Trump had led the country, and significantly raised the targets for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
A senator from Biden's party stands in the way
However, his plan to provide hundreds of billions of dollars for the fight against global warming as part of a multi-trillion climate and social package failed last year.
He had to put the project on hold in the face of opposition from Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who, due to the extremely tight majority in the Congress Chamber, can single-handedly block any reform project.
Manchin, who has close ties to the coal industry, recently renewed his opposition to new climate protection funds.
In June, the US Supreme Court also drastically restricted the government's room for maneuver in the fight against climate change with a ruling on the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The judges ruled that the EPA had exceeded its authority in setting overall limits on CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants.
As a result, Biden hardly has a realistic chance of achieving his climate goals - which is causing huge disappointment and frustration, especially in the left wing of the Democrats.
"Congress is not acting as it should," Biden lamented Wednesday.
'This is an emergency and I will consider it that way.
As President, I will use my executive power to fight the climate crisis.”
Not only Europe is currently being hit by a heat wave.
In the United States, heat warnings are currently in place for areas with a total population of 100 million.
jok/Reuters