Claiming that it could “unlock special powers” for a president to act without congressional approval, climate zealots are again pressuring President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency in the United States. Proponents believe that, under the umbrella of the National Emergencies Act, such a declaration would free the president to, among other things, halt crude-oil exports and immediately suspend all offshore drilling for gas and oil.
While Biden has thus far resisted the urge to declare such an emergency, he has stated recently that “practically speaking” he has already declared one. When pressed by the Weather Channel’s Stephanie Abrams whether he intended to declare a climate emergency, Biden answered: “I’ve already done that, the national emergency — we’ve conserved more land, we’ve moved into — we’ve rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, we’ve passed a $368 billion climate control [initiative]. We’re moving. It is the existential threat to humanity.”
When asked for clarification on what that meant, Biden demurred, saying that “practically speaking” he’s declared a climate emergency.
But that’s not good enough for the climate cult, which insists that he declare an actual emergency so that they can get their agenda moved forward without that pesky democratic process getting in the way.
Using the Maui wildfires, Hurricane Hilary, and summer heat as evidence of an emissions-caused climate emergency, the climate zealots are becoming more unhinged by the moment.
Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) was one of those who used the fires in Maui as his raison d’être for an emergency declaration, saying, “If the devastation in Hawaii isn’t a national emergency, what is?”
“I refuse to accept that people choosing between burning alive or jumping into the ocean for hours on end is our new normal. This is a crisis and we need to treat it that way. That starts with President Biden declaring a national climate emergency to unlock vast federal resources and emergency powers to help our communities prepare for and recover from these deadly climate disasters,” he added.
Squad member Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) piled on as well: “My heart breaks for the lives lost and communities devastated in Maui,” she said on X. “We must declare a climate emergency and advance the urgent policies necessary to confront the climate crisis and save lives.”
Climate lobbyists are also pressuring Biden to take the reins of a climate dictatorship. Activist organization People vs. Fossil Fuels is saying that it’s time for Biden to “follow through on his rhetoric” and declare a climate emergency.
Among the “emergency” steps People vs. Fossil Fuels would have Biden take would be to “Declare a Climate Emergency to rapidly advance just, renewable energy”; “Ban Federal Fossil Fuel Leasing, to end onshore and offshore drilling”; and “Stop the Federal Approval of All New Fossil Fuel Projects and Exports.”
It’s hard to see how any of these demands are “emergency” situations. Instead, they seem tailor-made to hand OPEC the entire fossil-fuel market. Despite what the climate zealots demand, fossil fuels are not going away anytime soon.
Another activist group also took Biden to task for his “practically speaking” declaration.
“It’s a no-brainer to declare a climate emergency — and if President Biden said we already have, then why not do it now?” asked a representative for the Sunrise Movement.
The group has started a petition demanding that Biden respond with a declaration that “responds with the full force of the federal government to climate disasters as they occur” and “halts crude oil exports, stops oil and gas drilling, ends the practice of leasing public lands and waters for fossil fuel production, and transitions our economy off of fossil fuels.”
And the media has jumped on the climate-emergency bandwagon, too, with NBC’s Hallie Jackson claiming that an emergency declaration “can unlock special powers for a president in a crisis without needing approval from Congress, thanks to a law passed nearly 50 years ago. Since then, every President has declared at least one emergency during their time in office. Former President Trump for example, signing one in the pandemic [and] Former President George W. Bush declaring one after 911.”
The calls for the president to declare a climate emergency expose one thing: Many, especially in the climate cult, would rather live under a dictator who does their bidding than in a constitutional republic where the people are in charge.
