Progressive calls for climate emergency swell after Biden says he ‘practically’ declared one

President Biden’s comment that he had “practically” declared a climate emergency is reigniting calls on the left for him to actually take such action.

The White House has not announced any explicit climate emergency declarations. Biden appeared poised to do so last year when talks on his signature climate legislation stalled, but he did not ultimately take the step. 

After the president was asked during a recent Weather Channel interview if he was prepared to declare a climate emergency, however, he at first said he already had. When pressed, he said he had done so “in practice” and practically speaking.

Progressive lawmakers and advocates alike have seized on that comment in a renewed push for a declaration.

“Well then just do it already,” tweeted Justice Democrats, a group that tries to elect progressives.

“Declaring a climate emergency would help save lives & our environment” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) tweeted. He specifically touted the potential for bans on crude oil exports, expanded renewable energy manufacturing and disaster relief under such an emergency.

In a tweet about the devastating Maui wildfires, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) also called for a declaration. 

“We must declare a climate emergency and advance the urgent policies necessary to confront the climate crisis and save lives,” she tweeted.

On the other hand, some Republicans used the comment to criticize Biden’s agenda.

GOP presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), for instance, told Fox News that instead of making a climate emergency declaration, Biden should have been “declaring the actual emergency, which is the emergency at our border.”

In remarks to reporters Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre touted the president’s accomplishments on climate change and said he has “called” climate change an emergency “since day one.”

“This is a president has — who has taken the climate crisis very seriously,” Jean-Pierre said, according to a transcript.

“He has called it an emergency since day one, saying that it is climate — climate change is one of the four crisis that he — crises that we had to deal with coming in,” she said. 

She also noted that the White House had invoked the Defense Production Act to set aside funds for solar manufacturing, sourcing electric vehicle materials, making heat pumps and bolstering the electric grid.

But advocates say declaring a climate emergency would help repair the strained relationship between progressives and the Biden administration — particularly on environmental issues.

The left has expressed frustration with several climate-related moves the Biden administration has taken, including approving the Willow project, a major drilling effort in Alaska; authorizing natural gas exports; and signing a law including the approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would bring gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia.

“He has not acted well on fossil fuels,” said Jean Su, energy justice director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. 

“As we increasingly see all these climate disasters and we are linking them to the scientific cause of combusting fossil fuels, the Biden administration will feel the pressure of the public to actually deal with that,” Su added.

She and others on the left argued that a climate emergency declaration could go a long way toward galvanizing Biden’s left-wing supporters. 

“Climate is a top issue for young people and progressives. Those are the people they need to turn out … but also and perhaps more importantly, those are the people who go actually knock on doors and make phone calls and text their friends and donate money,” said Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media. 

On the other hand, Biden has to balance engaging his base with courting moderate voters who may not support such an action.

In terms of policy, declaring an emergency on climate change would deliver in two different ways: unlocking new powers Biden could use to address the issue and offering a symbolic recognition of the threats posed by global warming. 

Experts told The Hill last year that if he made such a declaration, Biden would be able to access loans to bolster the deployment of renewable energy, halt crude oil exports and suspend offshore oil drilling leases, among additional powers.

“Obviously, the powers it unlocks are incredibly useful … but I also wouldn’t downplay the symbolic nature of it,” Henn said. “Tackling the climate emergency is a quick and easy way for the administration to begin to develop a political and rhetorical framework that inspires the nation to take bolder action.”

But, Michele Weindling, electoral director of the progressive Sunrise Movement, said, “This isn’t just a symbolic opportunity. It unlocks a lot of executive power that would enable him to help communities across the country that are facing a crisis.”