During an interview with The Weather Channel on Tuesday aired on Wednesday, President Joe Biden said that, “Practically speaking,” he’s “already” declared a national emergency on climate change. He stated that, as part of this practical emergency declaration on climate, “we’ve conserved more land,” “rejoined the Paris Climate Accord,” and “we’ve passed a 368 billion-dollar climate control [initiative].”
Weather Channel Meteorologist Stephanie Abrams asked, “Mr. President, you called climate change a code red for humanity. The World Health Organization said it would cause an additional quarter of a million deaths a year starting in 2030. Are you prepared to declare a national emergency with respect to climate change?”
Biden responded, “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-dollar climate control [initiative]. We’re moving. It is the existential threat to humanity.”
Abrams followed up, “So you’ve already declared that national emergency?”
Biden answered, “Well, in a practical — you have a bug on you.”
Abrams then thanked Biden for letting her know about the bug that was on her before asking, “So, you’ve already declared that national emergency?”
Biden responded, “Practically speaking, yes.”