When asked in an interview with The Weather Channel that aired Wednesday whether he would declare a national emergency on the climate crisis, President Joe Biden claimed he already had—except, the problem is… he definitely hasn’t. “I’ve already done that,” Biden said. “We’ve conserved more land, we’ve rejoined the Paris Climate Accords, we’ve passed the $368 billion climate control facility. We’re moving. It is the existential threat to humanity.” Even though the reporter continued to press on the question, Biden insisted that he had declared a national emergency—at least, “Practically speaking, yes.” On CNN This Morning Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre clarified Biden’s comments, saying Biden was talking about the Defense Production Act, which she said was “something he did very early on.” While the act can help improve the nation’s energy system and boost climate security, it is largely unrelated to a national emergency declaration. According to a White House official quoted by CNN, Biden “was clear in the interview, as he has been for decades, about the existential threat of climate change and the urgency and priority he places on addressing it.”
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