{"id":161933,"date":"2023-06-21T09:01:30","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T16:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=161933"},"modified":"2023-06-21T09:01:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T16:01:30","slug":"president-bidens-california-remarks-on-climate-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=161933","title":{"rendered":"President Biden&#8217;s California Remarks on Climate Resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Palo Alto, CA&#8230;Well, thank you, Chiena, for that introduction.  Governor Newsom, I tell you what: It\u2019s nice to be here, as you said, working on something that\u2019s a positive thing going forward, and not fixing something that happened very \u2014 very badly.  We\u2019ve spent a lot of time in helicopters flying over areas that needed helped.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TbKPuEwkmsw\" title=\"President Biden Delivers Remarks on the Climate Crisis\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Folks, I want to thank \u2014 Anna, thank you, kid.  You\u2019ve been incredible.  You\u2019ve been a friend for a long, long time in the Congress, when I was in the Senate.  And you\u2019ve done remarkable work.  You\u2019ve partnered on everything from protecting the environment to providing \u2014 improving the lives of the people in this district.<\/p>\n<p>And thanks to all the climate leaders that are here today.<\/p>\n<p>You know, we just visited the salt marsh, as you saw.  We walked down to the end of the Safety Bay Pro- \u2014 Safer Bay Project, and \u2014 a public-private partnership that\u2019s harnessing the nature of our ability to do what this young woman, Chiena, did.<\/p>\n<p>You know, one of the \u2014 I always say \u2014 I never \u2014 and I mean it sincerely: I\u2019ve been around a long time in public life.  I got elected when I was about your age, when I was 28 years old.  And you know what?  I\u2019ve never been more optimistic.  You and I were talking about the privately.  I swear to God, I\u2019ve never been more optimistic in my life.  And the reason I\u2019m optimistic is because of this generation.  It\u2019s the best educated, the most engaged, the most involved, and the most consequential.  They\u2019re in \u2014 they\u2019re in.<\/p>\n<p>The Governor was telling me about when they announced the program, there was 3,000 slots and about 10,000 people that immediately signed on, or tried to sign on.<\/p>\n<p>Well, look, these wetlands act as a critical buffer between the rising tides and the communities at risk, protecting homes, property, and infrastructure against flooding.<\/p>\n<p>They also absorb carbon dioxide from the air.  And we\u2019re right next to Route 101, and \u2014 where cars and trucks emit a lot of carbon pollution.<\/p>\n<p>What we\u2019re seeing here is an amazing success story of how you can work together to make our communities more climate-resilient.  It matters.  It matters.  Resiliency matters.<\/p>\n<p>You know, I\u2019ve toured many sites across the country that clearly show climate change is a genuine exi- \u2014 is the existential threat to humanity.  The existential threat to humanity.<\/p>\n<p>Here in California, the Governor \u2014 you and I stood together with first responders near Monterey Bay after touring the damage that was done.  The devastating storms caused historic flooding that killed 21 people. <\/p>\n<p>That comes on the heels of the worst droughts in California<br \/>\nin more than a millennia and the highest sea-level rise in more than a century.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen wildfire devastation across the West, burning more acres to the ground than are square miles in the state of Maryland.  That\u2019s how much got burned to the ground and all the \u2014 just flying over, just devastating.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s been historic tornadoes and flooding in the Midwest and the Southeast.<\/p>\n<p>And just last week, across the East Coast and Midwest, we saw what you\u2019ve already seen here in California: millions of Americans sheltered indoors, the air not safe to breathe, orange haze covering the sky.  It\u2019s incredible.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, to address those wildfire smoke that\u2019s coming from Canada, we\u2019re sharing cutting-edge technology that\u2019s already used here in California to help detect early fires and help them in sending, in addition to that, firefighters and tankers as well.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, the impacts we\u2019re seeing in climate change<br \/>\nare only going to get more frequent and more ferocious and more costly.<\/p>\n<p>Last year alone \u2014 last year alone, natural disasters in America caused $165 billion in damage, just last year alone \u2014 $165 billion in damage.  But the worsening impacts are not inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>Building on our incredible effort locally, my administration is doing all we can to help recover and build so we can be prepared to \u2014 and adapt. <\/p>\n<p>You know, it\u2019s all part of my Invest in America agenda the Governor was referencing.  It starts with the most significant climate investment law ever anywhere in the history of the world.  Over billions and billions \u2014 $368 billion \u2014 369, to be precise \u2014 in clean energy development, environmental justice, conservation, and so much more.<\/p>\n<p>We will cut 1 billion tons of carbon emission a year, create millions of good-paying jobs.  And it\u2019s already attracting billions of dollars in the private sector, because businesses are realizing it\u2019s overwhelmingly in their interest.  As a matter of fact, a couple of businesses are suing banks because they want to consider whether or not they\u2019re environmentally \u2014 anyway.  I won\u2019t get into all that.  (Laughter.)  I\u2019ll get \u2014<\/p>\n<p>But I want to emphasize again: We\u2019re taking the most aggressive climate action ever.  It\u2019s focused on mitigation \u2014 which means historic investments in developing clean energy by reducing dependence on fossil fuel \u2014 and resilience, which means communities \u2014 communities can better withstand the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.<\/p>\n<p>With a combination of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, we\u2019ve invested more than $50 billion so far in climate resilience; nearly $9 billion to make transportation infrastructure more resilient by elevating roads and bridges above projected flood zones; $13 billion to decrease the wildfire risk and improve forest health and paying for firefighters who risk their lives every day.<\/p>\n<p>Drought mitigation: $15.4 billion to bolster the West\u2019s resilience to drought.  These investments are being made in the context of a \u201cmegadrought\u201d affecting the Colorado River Basin.<\/p>\n<p>Forty million \u2014 40 million Americans already drinking water that thousands of farmers rely on for \u2014 for integration [irrigation].  And 40 million count on that river and so do the farmers.<\/p>\n<p>$6.6 billion in coastal resilience restoration of reefs and construction of other infrastructure to mitigate storm damage, plus more than $17 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to bolster resilience for coastal water and waterways infrastructure, including funding to address food, floods, storms, hurricane risks, and restore coastal ecosystems.<\/p>\n<p>Climate-smart agriculture: nearly $20 billion in funding for precision ariga- \u2014 irrigation and planting cover crops, plus a $1 billion America the Beautiful Challenge to accelerate locally led conservation efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, flood mitigation: $3.5 million [billion] to reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings, plus $1 billion in funding mitigation measures to increase community resilience, like supporting adaptations of hazard-resistant building codes.<\/p>\n<p>And maybe most important, I\u2019ve committed by 2020 [2030], we will have conserved 30 percent of all the lands and waters the United States has jurisdiction over and simultaneously reduce emissions to blunt climate impacts.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re on our way.  Conservation of land and water \u2014 we put more in conservation of land and water than any president in the history of the United States since \u2014 but John Kennedy.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re leading the way in Palo Alto and East Palo Alto and to Belle Haven.  For instance, a local nonprofit called Climate Resilient Communities gives communi- \u2014 (applause) \u2014 thank you.  You all are part of that.  Thank you.  It gives members a voice in planning and adaptation.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m here today to announce that we\u2019re putting our critical climate investment to work.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, first, starting tomorrow, the Department of Congr- \u2014 Commerce will launch the first and largest competitive Climate Resilience Regional Challenge to provide $600 million to coastal and Great Lake communities that are building projects to protect against the impacts of climate change from sea-level rise, flooding, and storm surge.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re investing in the people and places that have been hit the hardest but who are also on the frontlines of leading us forward.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, the second thing we\u2019re doing: The Department of Energy is going to announce that it\u2019s investing more than $2 billion to modernize our electric grid to be more climate resilient, including more than $67 million starting off in California.<\/p>\n<p>That funding can help ensure our electric grid is stronger, that the lights and air conditioning and Internet stay on during heat waves and storms and other climate events, so the lights can stay on in hospital operating rooms, nursing homes, and so many other critical care facilities.<\/p>\n<p>And third, later this year, we\u2019re hosting the first-ever White House summit that convenes local, state, Tribal, and territorial leaders focused on climate resilience.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s going to include a roadmap for how these historic climate actions are going to build more climate-resilient communities all across America, saving lives and homes and providing peace of mind.<\/p>\n<p>This is how we\u2019re going to meet the moment.  This is how we\u2019re going to \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, some of our MAGA Republican friends in Congress are continuing to try to undo all the progress we\u2019ve already made in the first two and a half years.<\/p>\n<p>They were holding the country hostage over the debt limit unless I would gut the climate provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act.  I was determined not to let that happen.<\/p>\n<p>With your significant help \u2014 and I mean that sincerely \u2014 all of you here, particularly Anna in the House and the \u2014 and the Congress, we didn\u2019t let it happen.<\/p>\n<p>And in the end, we didn\u2019t just protect some of the climate money and clean energy provisions.  We protected every single, solitary one.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But this ain\u2019t your father\u2019s Republican Party.  (Laughs.)  They\u2019re back at it again with another bill to repeal the same provisions.  But with your help, we\u2019re going to stop them again.<\/p>\n<p>Let me close with this.  Throughout our history, we\u2019re the only nation in the world that has come out of every crisis we\u2019ve entered stronger than we went into it.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re doing it again here on the climate crisis.<\/p>\n<p>When I think of climate, I think of jobs.  When I think of climate, I think of innovation.  When I think of jobs \u2014 climate, I think of turning peril into progress.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why I\u2019m so optimistic about the future.  I really am.<\/p>\n<p>We just have to remember who in the hell we are.  We\u2019re the United States of America, for God\u2019s sake.  There is nothing \u2014 nothing, nothing beyond our capacity if we work together.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s what all of you are doing here \u2014 have been doing and we\u2019re going to continue to do.<\/p>\n<p>And God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s go get \u2018em.  Let\u2019s get this done.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Palo Alto, CA&#8230;Well, thank you, Chiena, for that introduction. Governor Newsom, I tell you what: It\u2019s nice to be here, as you said, working on something that\u2019s a positive thing going forward, and not fixing something that happened very \u2014 very badly. We\u2019ve spent a lot of time in helicopters flying over areas that needed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Fullscreen-capture-6212023-85914-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=161933"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161935,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161933\/revisions\/161935"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/161934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=161933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=161933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=161933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}