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INAUGURAL ADDRESS REACTION: President Joe Biden kept his first speech to the nation high-level, focusing largely on unity and truth rather than delving into specific policy priorities.
Nonetheless, Biden did say that his focus in his first days will include climate change, one of the four crises along with the coronavirus, an economic downturn, and racial inequity he says the U.S. is facing all at once.
“Folks, this is a time of testing. We face an attack on democracy and truth, a raging virus, growing inequity, the sting of systemic racism, the climate in crisis, America’s role in the world,” Biden said from the steps of the Capitol, moments after being sworn in.
“Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways. The fact is we face them all at once,” Biden added.
Biden also briefly alluded to how urgently he believes the U.S. and the world must address climate change. “A cry for survival comes from the planet itself, a cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear,” Biden said, adding the country must unite to tackle climate change.
In addition, Biden embraced taking aggressive action to curb emissions and address the other challenges the country faces.
“It’s time for boldness, for there’s so much to do,” Biden said. “I promise you we will be judged by how we resolve these cascading crises.”
Biden is slated to sign his first executive orders later this afternoon, including a major order on climate change as we previewed this morning. Stay tuned to see if he addresses his climate change priorities more specifically then.
Thanks for reading Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe) and Abby Smith (@AbbySmithDC). Email [email protected] or [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
