Biden holds off on declaring a climate emergency – for now

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced new executive actions aimed at combating climate change. However, the moves fall short of pleas from progressive activists and some Democratic lawmakers to declare a climate emergency. That unilateral action would give Biden broad powers to halt fossil fuel exports, marshal clean energy production and redirect spending to bolster climate defenses. POLITICO’s Zack Colman breaks down the latest climate actions from the White House and why Biden has so far decided not to declare a climate emergency.  

Zack Colman covers climate change for POLITICO. 

Josh Siegel is an energy reporter for POLITICO. 

Nirmal Mulaikal is a POLITICO audio host-producer. 

Raghu Manavalan is a senior editor for POLITICO audio.

Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO’s audio department.

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