Is Climate Change a National Emergency?

Awaiting Vote
Bill Summary

The Climate Emergency Act would require that President Biden declare a national emergency with respect to climate change. Under the National Emergencies Act, this declaration by Biden would unlock an additional 136 statutory powers of executive use, such as authority over land management and military deployment. The bill cites indicators of the climate emergency, such as that 2010-2019 was the hottest decade on record and the growing prevalence of climate-related natural disasters. Sponsor: Representative Earl Blumenauer (Democrat, Oregon, District 3)
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Opponents say

• "It can be quite useful to have people declare emergencies. The downside is it also allows people to declare an emergency and then not do anything... (&) there’s a potential for abuse... both greenwashing abuse and political abuse." Source: Tom Burke (Founding Director of Third Generation Environmentalism)
• "To embrace the possibilities of tomorrow, we must reject the perennial profits of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse… They predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the 70s, and an end of oil in the 1990s. These alarmists always demand the same thing: absolute power to dominate, transform and control every aspect of our lives." Source: Former POTUS Donald Trump (United States of America)

Proponents say

• "Our country is in crisis and, to address it, we will have to mobilize our social and economic resources on a massive scale if we want to want to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. If we want to ensure that our nation has an equitable economic recovery and prevent yet another life-altering crisis - then we have to start by calling this moment what it is, a national emergency." Source: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democrat, New York, District 14)
• "This bill is a good sign that our leaders are finally understanding what young people and climate activists have been shouting from the rooftops for years - that the fires that burned our homes to rubble, the floods that took our family and friends with them, are a climate emergency, and bold action must be done now to save our humanity and our future." Source: Varshini Prakash (Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement)