Biden Announces Climate Action Amidst Rising Heat Wave
Evan Vucci/AP
We ran the numbers: There are 2,492 news articles covering this topic. 31% (779) are left-leaning, 45% (1,121) are centrist, and 24% (592) are right-leaning.
President Joe Biden called climate change an “emergency” and announced executive plans to combat climate change, but stopped short of declaring an official state of emergency. While left-leaning articles highlight the middle ground Biden attempts to play between climate action and appeasing Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), right-leaning articles highlight the unilateralism and hypocrisy of Biden’s plan.
A left-leaning article from Bloomberg focuses on how Biden seeks to play a middle ground between aggressive climate action while retaining Senator Manchin’s support for other legislation. This comes after Manchin recently denied legislation to combat rising temperatures. The article also notes that Biden called climate change an “existential threat” that he moved to combat in his announcement by expanding wind power generation and increasing AC systems.
USA Today published a centrist article reporting on how Biden’s announcement was a positive step forward but did not accomplish as much as environmental groups sought. Many want Biden to officially announce a climate emergency to unlock financial and statutory authorities that the President currently lacks. The article states that Biden’s biggest announcement was his plan to grant offshore wind farms access to parts of the Gulf of Mexico to power more than three million homes.
A right-leaning article from the New York Post focuses on how Biden’s climate announcement comes without Congressional support. The article also notes that Biden rode the “greenhouse-gas-spewing Air Force One” to make the announcement and that John Kerry, special presidential envoy for climate, has emitted more than 300 metric tons of carbon dioxide in the last year through his family’s private jet.
From the center
Stymied by Congress, Biden feels heat to act on climate while activists hold out for more
USA Today
From the right
Biden unveils AC subsidies during heat wave, promises action after Manchin blocks climate bill
New York Post