When President Joe Biden launched his 2020 campaign, climate change was at the forefront of his espoused ideals, even pledging to achieve net-zero emissions by no later than 2050. So how is he making that pledge a reality? By greenlighting new fossil fuel projects, of course!
By late January of this year, Biden had greenlit more oil and gas drilling projects (6,430) than former president Trump had during his first two years in office (6,172).
In March of this year, the Biden administration announced it would be moving forward with the Willow Project, which directly opposed his campaign promise of “no new drilling on federal lands, period.”
And in late July, the U.S. Supreme Court approved the continued construction of a pipeline through Virginia and West Virginia. The Mountain Valley Pipeline will run 300 miles through Brush Mountain and will cost a grand total of $6.6 billion. The pipeline is set to transport fracked gas and was blocked at the federal appeals court in Richmond, VA before the Supreme Court overruled this decision.
Biden personally approved this pipeline as part of a deal made with senators to secure their support for raising the national debt ceiling.
These decisions have aged especially poorly with the immediate effects of climate change manifesting across the globe, with some Arizona residents reporting third-degree burns from touching the ground.
According to NASA, within the next 50 years, states across the U.S. midwest will hit the critical wet-bulb temperature limit, meaning it will be too hot to live there.
On July 27, Biden tweeted (or is it X-ed?) “We’ve all seen the impacts of climate change, including record temperatures now affecting millions of Americans. Today, I was joined by mayors and senior members of my Administration to talk about this existential threat. We want the American people to know: help is here.”
The words “help is here” run especially hollow against the backdrop of Biden’s drilling record; by March 27 of this year, Biden’s administration had approved 7,118 permits for drilling on public and tribal lands.
(featured image: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Published: Jul 31, 2023 05:28 pm