It’s Thursday aka Earth Day.
Earth Day marks President Biden’s 92nd day in office.
For day 92–President Biden will have participated in Session 1 and Session 2 of the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate. In between Session 1 and 2 he’ll have received his daily brief.
In light of the summit, taking place or having already ended?, by noon D.C., time, we are doing Thursday’s tweet(s) first. So far President Biden has tweeted 6 times and retweeted 0 times.
8:01 a.m. D.C., time he shares a video feed to the opening of the Leaders Summit on Climate.
The New York Times has a live update thread on events taking place during the Leaders Summit on Climate.
This morning the White House published a fact-sheet: President Biden Sets 2030 Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Target Aimed at Creating Good-Paying Union Jobs and Securing U.S. Leadership on Clean Energy Technologies.
Snips from the fact-sheet:
President Biden will announce a new target for the United States to achieve a 50-52 percent reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030 – building on progress to-date and by positioning American workers and industry to tackle the climate crisis.
The announcement – made during the Leaders Summit on Climate that President Biden is holding to challenge the world on increased ambition in combatting climate change – is part of the President’s focus on building back better in a way that will create millions of good-paying, union jobs, ensure economic competitiveness, advance environmental justice, and improve the health and security of communities across America.
PUSHING PROGRESS, CREATING JOBS, AND ACHIEVING JUSTICE
America’s 2030 target picks up the pace of emissions reductions in the United States, compared to historical levels, while supporting President Biden’s existing goals to create a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050. There are multiple paths to reach these goals, and the U.S. federal, state, local, and tribal governments have many tools available to work with civil society and the private sector to mobilize investment to meet these goals while supporting a strong economy.
White House.gov. 04/22/2021.
Bullet points from the fact-sheet:
- The United States has set a goal to reach 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, which can be achieved through multiple cost-effective pathways each resulting in meaningful emissions reductions in this decade. That means good-paying jobs deploying carbon pollution-free electricity generating resources, transmission, and energy storage and leveraging the carbon pollution-free energy potential of power plants retrofitted with carbon capture and existing nuclear, while ensuring those facilities meet robust and rigorous standards for worker, public, environmental safety and environmental justice.
- The United States can create good-paying jobs and cut emissions and energy costs for families by supporting efficiency upgrades and electrification in buildings through support for job-creating retrofit programs and sustainable affordable housing, wider use of heat pumps and induction stoves, and adoption of modern energy codes for new buildings. The United States will also invest in new technologies to reduce emissions associated with construction, including for high-performance electrified buildings.
- The United States can reduce carbon pollution from the transportation sector by reducing tailpipe emissions and boosting the efficiency of cars and trucks; providing funding for charging infrastructure; and spurring research, development, demonstration, and deployment efforts that drive forward very low carbon new-generation renewable fuels for applications like aviation, and other cutting-edge transportation technologies across modes. Investment in a wider array of transportation infrastructure, including transit, rail, and biking improvements, will make more choices available to travelers.
- The United States can reduce emissions from forests and agriculture and enhance carbon sinks through a range of programs and measures including nature-based solutions for ecosystems ranging from our forests and agricultural soils to our rivers and coasts. Ocean-based solutions can also contribute towards reducing U.S. emissions.
- The United States can address carbon pollution from industrial processes by supporting carbon capture as well as new sources of hydrogen—produced from renewable energy, nuclear energy, or waste—to power industrial facilities. The government can use its procurement power to support early markets for these very low- and zero-carbon industrial goods.
- The United States will also reduce non-CO2 greenhouse gases, including methane, hydrofluorocarbons and other potent short-lived climate pollutants. Reducing these pollutants delivers fast climate benefits.
- In addition, the United States will invest in innovation to improve and broaden the set of solutions as a critical complement to deploying the affordable, reliable, and resilient clean technologies and infrastructure available today.
10:01 a.m. D.C., time he shares a tagline…
The White House published the following Proclamation for Earth Day, 2021.
On April 22, 1970, millions of Americans rallied together to protect the right of all of us to live free from environmental hazard and harm. On that first Earth Day, they gathered all across America — on college campuses, in public parks, and State capitals — galvanized by a vision of a healthier, more prosperous Nation where all people could thrive. Their untiring spirit sparked a national movement for environmental protection that endures today in the bedrock laws that protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and treasured wild places and wildlife.
Earth Day was primarily conceived and brought to life by a dedicated public servant: the late Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. Senator Nelson and his wife, Carrie Lee -– who herself passed away just last month –- were both dear friends who changed my life; it was Senator Nelson who helped persuade me to remain in the Senate after losing my first wife and daughter in a car accident in 1972. Senator Nelson changed the world, too, by building a legacy of environmental protection through Earth Day and all of the progress that has come in its wake –- not because it was popular, but because it was the right thing to do for our children and grandchildren.
Over half a century later, that legacy lives on in the chorus of courageous young people across the world who are rising up to demand action on climate change. They recognize the enormous economic opportunity to build a brighter, more prosperous future, and the dire economic, societal, and national security consequences of failing to act. Our youth remind us that a better world is within our grasp. Today, I say to young people fighting for a brighter future: We hear you. We see you. We will not let you down.
In recent years, climate change has upended the lives of millions of Americans. Record cold weather knocked out the electric grid in Texas this winter, killing at least 111 people and disrupting the lives and livelihoods of millions more. Wildfires tore through more than 5 million acres across the American West — an area roughly the size of the entire State of New Jersey burned to the ground. Last year, back-to-back hurricanes and powerful tropical storms battered the Gulf and East Coasts in the worst Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history. Record floods, hurricane-speed windstorms, and severe droughts devastated families and communities across the Midwest. People have lost homes and irreplaceable memories of their loved ones, small businesses built from years of tireless labor and sacrifice, farmland meant to be passed on to the next generation, and so much more.
At the same time, Black, Latino, Indigenous, and other communities of color continue to be hit hardest by the impacts of climate change. They bear the highest burden of pollution, face higher rates of heart and lung disease, are least likely to have safe drinking water in their homes, and suffer increased risk of death from COVID-19. These communities have also frequently been shut out of government decisions that directly bear on their interests. We have an obligation to correct these historic wrongs and to build a future where all people have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, healthy communities in which they can live, work, and learn, and a meaningful voice in their future.
That is why my Administration is advancing the most ambitious climate agenda in our Nation’s history. Our clean energy plan will create millions of good-paying union jobs, ensure our economic competitiveness, and improve the health and security of communities across America. By making those investments and putting millions of Americans to work, the United States will be able to cut our greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
Our success in confronting the climate crisis will not be ours alone. It will be shaped, bolstered, and ultimately won by a united pledge from global leaders to set the world on a path to a clean energy future. Today, on the fifth anniversary of the United States ratifying the Paris Agreement, we have brought nations from across the world together to meet the moment and raise our climate ambitions.
More than 50 years ago, a generation rallied to confront the environmental crises they faced. They took action in hopes that those in power would listen. Today, a new generation is sounding the alarm louder than ever, demanding that world leaders act. It is in all our interests to rise to that challenge and let our legacy be one of action
White House.gov. 04/22/2021.
10:45 a.m. D.C., time he says when he thinks of climate change, he thinks about jobs…
11:00 a.m. D.C., time he’s still focused on climate change, shocking, I know…
11:45 a.m. D.C., time he tells us we are back.
12:29 p.m. D.C., time he says we’ve officially reached the 200 million shots goal.
Speaking of shots…the husband and I will receive our second dose of the Moderna vaccine tomorrow afternoon.
Twitter rewind…
As of Wednesday’s Open Thread President Biden had tweeted 2 times. He added 8 tweets to his Wednesday tweeting giving himself a total of 10 tweets and 0 retweets.
1:44 p.m. D.C., time he shares a live feed to his remarks regarding the admin’s conronavirus response and the state of the vaccinations.
His full remarks can be found here, according to the White House’s timestamp he began speaking at 1:45 p.m. D.C., time and concluded speaking at 2:00 p.m. D.C., time.
During his remarks he explained that back in December the goal set by his administration was to have 100 millions administered in his first 100 days in office. With that goal achieved in just 58 days the new goal of administering 200 million shots was set. That goal he said would be reached on Thursday.
Back in December, I set a goal of administering 100 million shots — vaccine shots in my first 100 days in office. At the time, some told us that it couldn’t be done, it was awfully ambitious. But we did it in 58 days because of the incredible staff I have.
And so I set a second goal to deliver 200 million shots in my first 100 days in office — a goal unmatched in the world or in prior mass vaccination efforts in American history.When tomorrow’s vaccine — vaccination numbers come out, it will show that, today, we did it. Today, we hit 200 million shots on the 92nd day in office. Two hundred million shots in 100 days
White House.gov. 04/21/2021.
During his remarks he announced a tax credit that he says will allow employers to offer paid time off to their employees in order to go and get vaccinated. At 2:15 p.m. D.C., time he tweeted out a link to the IRS regarding the tax credit.
From his remarks regarding the tax credit made possible by the American Rescue Pan.
I’m calling on every employer, large and small, in every state, to give employees the time off they need, with pay, to get vaccinated and any time they need, with pay, to recover if they are feeling under the weather after the shot.
No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fulfill their patriotic duty of getting vaccinated.
So to make sure this policy comes at no cost to small- or medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees, the IRS — the IRS is posting instructions for how employers can get reimbursed for the cost of providing paid leave for their employees to get vaccinated and recover from the side effects if they have any. That reimbursement, which comes through a tax payment, is thanks to the program I launched in the American Rescue Plan.
White House.gov. 04/21/2021.
He sends another tweet regarding the paid leave to get vaccinated @ 6:10 p.m. D.C., time.
President Biden: every employee should get paid leave to get a shot. And businesses should know that they can provide it without a hit to their bottom line.
3:15 p.m. D.C., time he shared a photo from his meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
President Biden and Vice President Harris met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on April 20th, 2021, the White House published the following readout of the meeting.
Today, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hosted the leadership of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) in the Oval Office to discuss topics of critical importance including vaccine equity and the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, the impact of the American Jobs Plan on Latino communities, immigration reform and a humanitarian response at the border, extending the eviction moratorium, and preventing extremist groups from joining the U.S. armed forces.
The President and Vice President shared their vision in the American Jobs Plan to invest in shared CHC infrastructure priorities, including affordable housing and job creation.
The President also highlighted his commitment to Latino representation throughout the Administration.
This meeting underscores the long-term partnership between President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the CHC on crucial issues, and the Administration’s continued attention to their legislative goals and priorities.
White House.gov. 04/20/2021.
At 4:39 p.m. D.C., time he tells Twitter users that he would like to hear their favorite memories from their visits to one of our National Parks in honor of National Park Week.
I took this photo at Yellowstone. I’m a city kid who’s been to many of the great capitals but had never been to a national park before. (I did not wear appropriate footwear.) I still think it’s the best photo I’ve ever taken. pic.twitter.com/0uiw4e8F8s
— Helen Kennedy (@HelenKennedy) April 21, 2021
Best park in the Country. Badlands NPS. pic.twitter.com/qA4LthHneP
— Craig S Hensel (@thecraighensel) April 22, 2021
My favorite picture of our daughter was taken in Glacier National Park. We absolutely could not convince her to go out on the lake in a canoe. But after an hour of cajoling, I got her to roll up her pants and dip her feet in.
— Kaz Weida (@kazweida) April 22, 2021
This is her face the moment she first felt the water pic.twitter.com/OFNoxKpwzY
While Disneyland is not a National Park, though I could argue it should be, my favorite memory for me, is our 2016 trip to Disneyland. It was just me, my husband, and our barely 16 year old daughter.
From the trip:
This trip was just a little less than a year after this pic was taken…
That’s around the 4th day in the ped’s ICU at UCLA medical center where Build Bear came by and she got to design her stuffed toy.
That’s just my long way of saying that Disneyland Park trip, will forever be, my favorite park trip. 🙂
Because infrastructure week will not die, he posted two tweets regarding the American Jobs Plan.
7:02 p.m. D.C., time…
The video clip is 1 minute and 36 seconds long.
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge: At some point you realize that infrastructure is a foundation. Housing is one of the most important foundations that any family or any person has. 11 million or so people in this country are paying more than 50 percent of all their income towards rent. That is not affordable. Affordable means ‘I can live decently and do all the other things that are necessary for me to have a decent life.’
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge con’t: When COVID first entered our lives, the one thing they said to people was: Stay home. So, if you didn’t have a home you had a problem. Our children were learning virtually. So if they didn’t have high-speed internet or broadband they could not learn. What we have created is a generation of young people who will forever be behind if we don’t provide them the tools necessary to get ahead.
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge con’t: How we care for each other? That is a caring infrastructure. We take care of our seniors, and we take care of our children, that is what we do every day. Those foundations make us who we are.
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge con’t: This is still America. This is still the country that leads all other nations. If we don’t take the bold steps now, when we have the resources and the opportunity and the will, we will never be the country we believe we are.
8:20 p.m. D.C., time he says we are making progress with COVID-19 but in order to “build back better,” we need the American Jobs Plan.
Last but not posted last on his feed was a tweet sent @ 7:45 p.m. D.C., time he congratulated Vanita Gupta for being confirmed as Associate Attorney General.
Senate.gov., records the vote as 51 Yea’s and 49 Nay’s. One republican Senator Lisa Murkowski joined the D’s in supporting Gupta’s confirmation.
The White House daily press briefing features special guest Envoy on Climate, John Kerry. It’s scheduled to start around 1:30 p.m. D.C., time.
This is an Open Thread.
