WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – During Friday’s COP 27 climate conference in Egypt, President Biden vowed the United States will meet emissions targets –warning the world is facing a climate catastrophe.
US officials and leaders from around the world say the fight against climate change is also a race against time warning if the world doesn’t act quickly enough, we could see even more droughts and floods cause severe food shortages.
“My commitment to this issue has been unwavering,” Biden said. “In the United States, we’re seeing historic drought, wildfires in the west, devastating hurricanes and storms in the east.”
The president and top scientists say if climate change continues at this pace, those natural disasters will only get worse.
“The climate crisis is about human security, economic security, environmental security, national security, and the very life of the planet,” Biden added.
President Biden told world leaders the US is on track to meeting the Paris Climate Accord goals thanks to the historic investments included in the Inflation Reduction Act. However, he said the US and the world need to do more.
For the second year in a row, a small group of Republican lawmakers attended the COP climate conference. While they agree climate change is a problem, they voted against the president’s climate plan and have reservations about how to fight climate change.
“We’ve got to stay clearly focused on energy affordability,” Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) said.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) adds, “we better have rational environmentalism, instead of radical environmentalism.”
Meeting global goals will be tough, too.
The COP conference has been trying to figure out ways for the biggest polluters, like the US, to help developing countries pay for transitioning to clean energy and more resilient infrastructure.
Climate talks between the US and China, another big polluter, recently fell apart after China blamed Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan as a reason to back out. Meanwhile, the two leaders are scheduled to meet in Bali on Monday.
