US Vice President Kamala Harris is convening dozens of environmental leaders Wednesday, as the Biden administration seeks to build on enactment of last year’s sweeping climate law and move more urgently to address the crisis.
(Bloomberg) — US Vice President Kamala Harris is convening dozens of environmental leaders Wednesday, as the Biden administration seeks to build on enactment of last year’s sweeping climate law and move more urgently to address the crisis.
Harris’s afternoon meeting with leaders from national, state and local grassroots advocacy groups at the White House complex comes as the administration enters a new phase implementing major clean energy and climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act enshrined into law last year. The measure unleashed hundreds of billions of dollars to propel clean energy manufacturing, renewable deployment, conservation and the development of green technology — but many of its initiatives depend on work by federal agencies to create programs, draft regulations and distribute funding.
Read: Biden nears now-or-never point for cementing new climate rules
While the law is seen helping the US cut its greenhouse gas emissions about 40% from 2005 levels by the end of the decade, President Joe Biden has committed to a bigger 50% to 52% reduction. Fulfilling that Paris Agreement pledge will require even more ambitious work by businesses, states and local communities.
In Wednesday’s meeting and a separate discussion in front of students at the University of Michigan on Thursday, Harris is set to describe how the administration is urgently addressing the climate crisis and how that is providing economic opportunity for all Americans, said a White House official who asked not to be named previewing the event.
Harris will be joined by other top administration representatives, including John Podesta, the White House aide who is overseeing implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, as the government seeks input to guide forthcoming climate regulations and executive action, the official said. Harris is set to convey the message that the administration is seeking to build on the momentum created by recent climate policy wins because there is more work to be done.
–With assistance from Jennifer Jacobs.
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