President Biden commemorated Earth Day by telling a crowd in Triangle, Virginia that anyone who denies the impacts of climate change is “condemning the American people to a very dangerous future.”
The president’s comments were made while speaking at Prince William Forest Park, where he announced two programs he expects to benefit the environment and the American people.
The first program Biden introduced is to help low- to middle-income families dealing with the inflated costs of energy bills.
Under the president’s new “Solar for All” plan, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will invest $7 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, to reduce energy costs.
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Biden said the reward will provide 60 grants across the country to states, territories, municipalities, tribal governments, and religious nonprofits to create programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from residential solar.
“It’s a big deal,” he said. “This new Solar for All program means that 900,000 households, 900,000, will have solar on the rooftops for the first time, and soon millions of families will save over $400 a year in utility bills, and that’s $350 million nationwide.”
Another program Biden introduced is the American Climate Corps, which will provide over 2,000 positions in 36 states. The president said Americans can now apply to become the first members of the American Climate Corps and get paid to fight climate change by learning how to install solar panels, fight wildfires, rebuild wetlands and winterize homes, among other things.
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Biden said he has seen the “devastating toll” of climate change firsthand, saying since becoming president, he has flown over all the major fires and “thousands upon thousands of acres” that were burned flat by wildfires.
He also said he met with families whose homes were “wiped off the map” by hurricanes, floods and storms last year, adding that last year Earth faced the hottest day on record. In just two years, he said, natural disasters and extreme weather in America caused $270 billion in damages.
“But folks, despite the overwhelming devastation in red and blue states, there’s still those who deny climate is in crisis,” Biden told the crowd. “My MAGA Republican friends don’t seem to think it’s a crisis… they actually want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which actually provides the funding for a vast majority of these projects and roll back… protections for clean air and clean water.
“I’m not going to go into it now, but I’m not making it up. It’s real. Just listen to what they say,” the president said. “Anyone in or out of government who willfully denies the impacts of climate change is condemning the American people to a very dangerous future, and the world, I might add. They want to take us backwards, sideline our workers, let China and others lead the race for clean energy. I’m determined, absolutely determined we move forward.”
Before the president walked up to the podium, several lawmakers spoke about Earth Day, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who thanked Biden for launching the American Climate Corps.
Ocasio-Cortez also spoke about Franklin D. Roosevelt inspiring the idea through a bill he put forward in 1933, to create the original Civilian Conservation Corps. Ocasio-Cortez called Roosevelt’s bill revolutionary in the wake of the Great Depression, as it put over 3 million young people to work, created 711 new state parks and improved the nation’s public lands.
At the beginning of Biden’s speech, he acknowledged comments made by Bernie Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez.
“Bernie, you’re the best. And Representative Ocasio-Cortez of New York. You know, I learned a long time ago, listen to that lady. Listen to that lady. We’re going to talk more about another part of the world, too, really quickly,” Biden said in a cryptic way.
Despite what looked to be foreshadowing before his speech, the president never spoke of other parts of the world, except for when he mentioned the U.S. rejoining the Paris Agreement.
In his closing statement, Biden spoke about Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, which Biden said, “was referenced by the Congress lady,” failing to refer to Ocasio-Cortez by name.
Biden quoted Roosevelt, saying, “more important than the material gains, will be the moral and spiritual value of such work.”
“He always put it in context and went beyond just what the immediate need was,” Biden said. “I’d say the same holds true for what we’re doing here today as a moral imperative, and I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future.”
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