While Inflation Soars, Biden Wants To Spend $2.3 Billion On Climate Change

Photo by Wance Paleri on Unsplash

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he would take executive action on climate change since Congress wasn’t acting as it should but stopped short of calling it a national emergency.

“This is an emergency,” he said. “I will look at it that way.” Biden continued that he was “running the traps on the totality of the authority I have.”

During the president’s speech from a former coal-fired power plant in Somerset, Massachusetts revamped for the offshore wind industry; he laid out a $2.3 billion plan to help build infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather conditions.

This funding will help communities increase resilience to heat waves, drought, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and other hazards by preparing before disaster strikes, according to the White House. The plan focused on disadvantaged and marginalized communities, those closest to environmental hazards.

It included expanding how the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) can promote the delivery of efficient air conditioning equipment and community cooling centers during heat waves. It also provides significant investment in offshore wind opportunities.

However, the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program extends from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Department of Health and Human Services guides LIHEAP on how to carry out cooling elements. In addition, the Department of Interior proposes the first-ever Wind Energy areas in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia.

The White House Factsheet had plenty to say about the government providing for, taking care of, supporting, and helping Americans. But, unfortunately, it said little about the private sector and the American businessperson increasing or expanding jobs, building or investing in new opportunities for growth or renewal.

The mention of the private sector comes in manufacturing American-made supplies for wind energy. Investors have begun to invest, dropping $2.2 billion in American-made wind energy in 2021 with commitments to develop nine major manufacturing facilities to produce the foundations, towers, cables, and blades of offshore wind turbines. The increased production and manufacturing offer new job creation. The White House insists these jobs will be “good-paying jobs.”

The private sector is a business or corporation that is not “state-owned or controlled,” according to the Balance. The public sector includes governmental employment, civil service, federal workers, law enforcement, etc.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the gross domestic product (GDP) decreased 1.6% in the first quarter of 2022 after a 6.9 increase at the end of 2021. Both private services and private goods decreased while the government increased.

A New York Times survey revealed the urgency the American people see in climate change.