Washington, DC – President Biden delivered his State of the Union address Thursday night to a joint session of US Congress. In his speech, Biden touched on accomplishments and challenges from the past year, but he focused primarily on making the case for his re-election and differentiating himself from his predecessor and opponent, Donald Trump. Biden covered a variety of topics, from the economy, to abortion rights, immigration, and national security. He mentioned climate change only briefly.
Jeff Ordower, 350.org North America Director, responds:
“President Biden’s climate legacy remains mixed. And in his State of the Union, which took place amidst raging wildfires and month after month of records shattered, he mentioned climate only briefly. He celebrated steps he’s taken to invest in renewable energy and electric vehicles. He said he’s taking action on environmental impacts facing fenceline communities—likely referring to his recent pause of new LNG export approvals, an important step in the right direction. Yet the pause is only temporary, the new LNG projects that were approved before the pause are still moving forward, and the US continues to spend money on destruction in many forms, from burning oil to war and genocide.
These next months represent a critical chance for Biden to take meaningful action to improve on his mixed legacy and set a more hopeful stage for what is to come. There has already been far too much loss at the hands of the US government, dating back centuries. But Biden can still help set us on a path towards finally taking accountability for the US’ disproportionate historic and current role in causing climate chaos. He can stand up to Big Oil in a bigger way and make it clear that the era of fossil fuels is over, and private profit and greed will no longer rule the day. He can stop funding war and genocide and instead fund vital human and planetary needs. The voters are watching. The planet won’t wait.”
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