Tangle - A climate change emergency

Episode Date: July 21, 2022

NOTE: The Tangle Podcast will go on break next week. Back with your daily news 8/1!On today's episode, Biden's climate change plan. Plus, a question about Democrats' messaging.You can read today's podcast here.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and produced by Trevor Eichhorn. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tanglenews/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages 6 months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police

procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. From executive producer Isaac Saul,

this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, the place where you get views from across the political spectrum. Some independent thinking without all that hysterical nonsense you find everywhere else. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and on today's episode, we are going to be talking about President Biden and climate change and the potential national emergency he may declare. As always, though, before we jump in, we'll start off with some quick hits. we jump in, we'll start off with some quick hits. First up, President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 this morning, the White House press secretary announced in a statement. Number two, a bipartisan group of senators announced a deal to reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887,

clarifying that the role of the vice president is symbolic, raising the threshold to object to results from states, and barring states from declaring a failed election to override the popular vote. Number three, Wisconsin's Republican House Speaker said that former President Trump has called him within the last week seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. Number four, Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, was ordered to testify in a Georgia criminal investigation into election interference. Number five, Russia resumed the Nord Stream 1 gas supply to Europe, easing concerns it may shut off Europe's largest natural gas import infrastructure. Stuff going on in the world because it's kind of amazing. Record breaking

temperatures throughout Europe have left thousands of people dead and experts warn it's only going to get hotter. Sweltering temperatures putting lives at risk. The White House could reportedly make a big announcement soon. According to The Washington Post, President Biden could declare a climate emergency as soon as this week. This is an emergency, an emergency. And I will, I will look at it that way. Democrats had hoped to invest as much as $550 billion in their sweeping Build Back Better plan to create new programs to cut emissions and promote the use of technologies like electric vehicles. They eventually narrowed that bill to $300 billion to win Senator Joe Manchin's support,

and there were reports of progress. But last week, Senator Manchin said he would not support legislation on climate change until he sees the latest inflation numbers. President Biden responded by pledging to push forward via executive action and hinted at the national emergency declaration to unlock more funds and resources. On Wednesday, Biden announced his first set of modest executive actions during a visit to Massachusetts, calling for new funding for cooling centers and pushing for offshore wind projects to produce energy in the Gulf of Mexico. His announcement came in the midst of heat waves across Europe and the United States. There are currently 100 million Americans under heat warnings this week. He did not declare a climate emergency, as some had predicted he might, though he alluded to the possibility of doing so

in the future. Climate change is literally an existential threat to our nation and to the world, Biden said. This is an emergency, an emergency, and I will look at it that way. If Biden were to declare a national climate emergency, he would unlock a host of new powers and resources, though many are likely to face legal challenges. Climate activists have called on Biden to use his executive authority to pause crude oil exports and offshore drilling, as well as end private investment in fossil fuel projects abroad. When Donald Trump was president, he controversially used a National Emergency Act to reallocate military funds to the construction of his border wall, which drew criticism from some Republicans

who worried about the precedent such a declaration would set. If today the national emergency is border security, tomorrow the national emergency might be climate set. If today the national emergency is border security, tomorrow the national emergency might be climate change, Senator Marco Rubio, the Republican from Florida, said on CNBC in 2019. Now it appears Biden may be considering that path. In a moment, you'll hear some arguments about what Biden should do about climate change with a focus on the possibility that he may declare a climate emergency. First up, we'll start with what the right is saying. The right says declaring an emergency would be an abuse of power and warns that it would exasperate Biden's political problems. Many argue the only path toward combating climate change is

a global one. Others say Democrats need to make their case to the public, not operate through executive action. The Wall Street Journal editorial board said it would be an even greater abuse of power than Trump's repurposing of military funds for a border wall. While a president may sometimes need to act with dispatch during an emergency, climate change isn't close to such an event. Climate change is neither sudden nor unexpected. The world has warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century, and the pace of future warming is uncertain and depends on multiple variables. In any case, nothing progressives want Mr. Biden to do will affect the climate or even reduce global CO2 emissions. China and India will continue to build coal plants that offset all of the West's climate sacrifices. But that isn't stopping progressives from demanding that Mr. Biden roll over the Constitution's separation of powers.

One irony is that Congress passed the National Emergencies Act of 1976 to limit abuses of executive power. Here are some of the ways progressives now want Mr. Biden to impose his climate agenda without democratic assent. Halt oil exports, banning U.S. exports would drive up global oil prices, and the U.S. would still have to import refined products and crude to meet demand, the board said. Stop oil and gas drilling in the outer continental shelf. Mr. Biden has already imposed a de facto moratorium on new offshore leases, but progressives want him to suspend existing leases. This would reduce U.S. production by about 1.8 million barrels a day, about two to three times as much as Russian output

has declined owing to Western sanctions. Use the Defense Production Act to build green energy. While Mr. Biden could try to command manufacturers to make more green products, logistical snags would abound. Henry Olson said that the United States cannot stop climate change alone, even if Biden does what climate activists want through executive action. Fighting climate change effectively and rapidly means doing something that even climate activists often shy away from proposing. Starting a global trade war, Olson wrote. Emissions in the United States and Europe are dropping, but standards of living there are being supported by importing products being made more cheaply in other places. This essentially offshores emissions to places with dirtier and cheaper sources of energy, such as coal.

That is causing global emissions to rise more quickly than developed countries can cut theirs. Rapid decreases in global emissions are therefore only possible by reversing this globalization through border carbon adjustments or tariffs weighted for the carbon input of imported goods, Olson added. Imposing those adjustments without any concern about how it will affect the economies of developing nations would start a trade war that would make Trump's tariffs look like child's play. And bailing out those nations through international wealth transfers would likely cause a voter revolt of unimaginable magnitude.

Any attempt by Biden to impose such policies under the guise of a climate emergency would be entirely undemocratic. The New York Post editorial board said it would be one more sign Biden is putting extremist demands from his party's base ahead of democracy. The only thing that's changed on the environment front over the last week is the death of Democrats' hopes to devote $300 billion in tax credits to green industries, the board said. Oh, and earlier, the Supreme Court finally told the Environmental Protection Agency it couldn't misread the clear letter of the law to impose costly anti-carbon emissions mandates on the nation. Neither the tax credits nor the EPA's rules would have had much impact on climate change,

especially since China, India, and the developing world continued to vastly increase their emissions. So the only new emergency is Democrats' inability to get their way through normal democratic procedures, that is, winning the majorities in Congress needed to change U.S. laws by convincing a majority of Americans that drastic action is called for. To be clear, the balance of evidence shows that climate change is real and human activity contributes significantly to it. But the evidence also shows that it's not remotely apocalyptic. Humanity will be in far better shape by the end of the century, even if the world does nothing more to reduce carbon emissions, the board wrote. Most of the media and school curricula push cataclysmic claims about climate change, so the public, especially younger people who've been propagandized their entire lives,

routinely tell its pollsters it'd like the government to act. But that support turns to dust when it comes to most specific steps, which involve huge expenses for small gains. Witness the fury at $4 plus a gallon of gas, a direct result of Biden's and the Western government's generally war on carbon fuels. All right, that is it for what the right is saying. Next up is what the left is saying. Many on the left want Biden to take drastic action on climate change. Most say a climate emergency declaration is necessary and would show the world Biden is serious. Others remind us of opportunities to fight climate change with better focused priorities, even without a national emergency. In the New York Times, Coral Davenport wrote about the four ways the U.S. can still combat climate change without a national

emergency declaration. Vehicles are the nation's largest source of planet-warming pollution, and experts say that rapidly ending the use of gasoline-powered cars is crucial to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Mr. Biden has directed the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department to write a transformative new regulation to rein in tailpipe pollution and accelerate the nation's transit to electric vehicles, Davenport said. Coal and gas fired power plants are the nation's second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. While the Environmental Protection Agency has been blocked by the Supreme Court from issuing a sweeping, ambitious rule that would shut down power plants fueled by coal and gas,

the agency still plans to issue a more modest rule that would compel electric utilities to slightly lower their greenhouse emissions and possibly to install technology to capture and sequester carbon dioxide pollution, though that pricey technology is not yet widely available. Focus on methane, Davenport added. Carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels is the planet's most abundant and dangerous greenhouse gas, but methane, which is emitted into the atmosphere through leaks from oil and gas drilling sites, is a close second. It lingers in the atmosphere for a shorter period of time than carbon dioxide, but packs a bigger punch. It lingers in the atmosphere for a shorter period of time than carbon dioxide, but packs a bigger punch while it lasts. In the coming months, the EPA plans to

issue tougher new regulations to curb leaks of methane from oil and gas wells, a move that could take a significant slice out of the nation's overall greenhouse gas pollution. Absent federal action on climate change, state-level climate policies will play a more important role. Just under half the states have already enacted significant climate policies. The leader is California, which in the coming weeks is expected to finalize a first-in-the-nation regulation requiring that all new cars sold in the state must be electric or zero emission by 2035. 17 other states are in line to adopt the same rule when it passes in Sacramento. In Vox, Rebecca Lieber wrote about the opportunity to declare an emergency.

On Wednesday, Biden announced mostly piecemeal actions, $2.3 billion for a FEMA building program to combat heat waves and other disasters, releasing guidance for the low-income housing assistance program to establish programs like community cooling centers, and opening up 700,000 acres of offshore wind energy bids in the southeast, she wrote. None of this will fill the gap left by $550 billion in undelivered climate funds in the once-hoped-for reconciliation bill. But Biden faces immense pressure from the left to do a lot more and to announce it soon. One of the powers Biden could use is his emergency authorities under the National Emergencies Act of 1976. Declaring the first-ever climate emergency would show Biden is putting the

full weight of the executive branch behind combating the climate crisis, climate advocates argue, Lieber said. In 2021, more than 40% of the country lived somewhere hit by a climate-related disaster. Even as Biden spoke, more than 100 million Americans were under excessive heat warnings. The Center for Biological Diversity argued in a February report that an emergency declaration would allow the president, among other actions, to use the Defense Production Act to boost renewable manufacturing, use the National Emergencies Act to halt crude oil exports, and stop leasing to fossil fuel companies and new drilling offshore, and use the executive branch's $650 billion procurement budget to buy clean energy and electric vehicles.

After the Supreme Court's ruling limiting the EPA's power, Gene Hsu argued that Biden could ratchet down oil and gas production. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages 6 months and older,

and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. Biden can also declare a national climate emergency and reinstate the crude oil export

ban that Congress overturned in 2015. Oil drilling in the Permian Basin has exploded since then, creating the Earth's largest climate bomb, she wrote. Production quadrupled in the past decade and is expected to grow aggressively in the next, spewing climate and health-damaging pollution from wellheads to the export terminals built next to low-income communities and those of color. Banning crude oil exports alone could cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 165 million metric tons each year, the equivalent of shuttering 42 coal plants. These are bold climate actions, but we have hope that the Biden administration has the political will to take them on. And there is precedent for him to do so. Earlier this year, we wrote a legal blueprint outlining how the president can

deploy his emergency powers to supercharge the transition to a green, just energy system, Gene Hsu argued. More than 1,200 organizers in the People vs. Fossil Fuels Coalition have called on Biden to embrace these powers, declaring a national climate emergency and take swift executive action to reject new fossil fuel leases, infrastructure, and exports. In June, Biden heeded these calls by invoking the Defense Production Act to jumpstart renewable energy manufacturing. In doing so, he signaled a sea change in his administration's strategy to combat climate emergency and redress deep-seated inequities. For the first time, he also put our country's climate strategy on a wartime footing.

All right, that is it for what the right and the left are saying, which brings us to my take. So a few days ago, I saw a funny, if not extremely frustrating tweet from the writer Matt Walsh. The tweet was an obvious reference to the debate about how to act on climate change. Walsh said, remember when they spent years telling us to panic over the hole in the ozone layer and then suddenly just stopped talking about it and nobody ever mentioned the ozone layer again, he asked sarcastically. It was funny and extremely frustrating because it revealed both the absurdity of our current conversation and the ignorance of some people participating in it. What is apparently news to Walsh is that the reason we don't talk about the ozone layer anymore is that it has been drastically repaired over the last few decades, primarily because a group of scientists identified chlorofluorocarbons as being

disastrous for the ozone layer. Global leaders believed those scientists, signed the Montreal Protocol, and the use of CFCs fell 99.7%. Over the ensuing years, the ozone layer began to repair itself, just as scientists predicted it would. In the U.S., this cooperative process was ushered in by Republican President Ronald Reagan. The evidence is clear that climate change is a real and urgent threat. I'm heartened to see this consensus building across party lines, even as the debate about what to actually do about it still divides many Americans and our legislators. But it's clear to me that, much like the ozone layer, if we want to not talk about it in 40 years, we are going to need cooperative, comprehensive global action. Like most Americans, I strongly prefer that our legislators do more to address climate change. 65% of Americans say the federal government is doing too little. 79% favor tax credits to

businesses for developing carbon capture and storage. 72% favor government requirements for power companies to transition to sources like wind and solar. 68% favor levying taxes on corporations based on carbon emissions. I was happy to see Biden re-enter the Paris Climate Agreement precisely because it's the kind of things most Americans support and the kind of global cooperative agreement that can make a difference. I am much less enthusiastic about the idea of a climate change emergency declaration. For starters, it would be precisely the kind of abuse of executive action that I've long criticized in this newsletter. I can't change my position on executive ovaries just because it's a policy I might prefer. On top of being easily reversible by the next president, who today looks

likely to be a Republican and thus someone who will probably overturn the executive orders now being considered, such action would almost certainly face high legal hurdles. As the Washington Post put it, some of those legal challenges could affect future environmental regulations, meaning if Biden gets too far out over his skis and gets wrangled by the courts, it could further limit any future action. It's also bad timing. Most of the fervor on executive actions is to press Biden into cutting back on drilling and oil exports. But politically, that kind of action would probably further depress Biden and Democrats standing with the public at a time when gas prices are sky high. The latest price drops are a lifeline, and Biden would be foolish not

to grab them by taking an executive action that could reverse the trend. If those price drops stick, he may get Senator Manchin back in the mix. And if progressives are right about Manchin sabotaging the Biden administration, the president still has plenty of other routes to take, with more on that in a minute. It'd also be a horrible time to raid disaster relief funds and send money to renewable projects, just like it was a horrible timing to put that money toward a border wall. Over the last few years, the increasing number of wildfires and major weather events, which are getting worse thanks to extended droughts and rising ocean temperatures, necessitate having those funding sources. While it's true we want to address the root cause,

it's also true that the money allocated for disaster response could be the worst way possible to fund that goal. If there's one executive action I do support, it's what Biden has already done, invoking the Defense Production Act to accelerate domestic manufacturing of energy technologies like solar. These are the kinds of things that can expand our clean energy and reduce prices, but it's something Biden has already done and not something that would require emergency powers. The administration is facing huge issues over the next few months. Inflation, navigating the war in Ukraine, trying to bring down health care costs,

addressing record high border crossings, staring down monkeypox, and still fighting COVID-19. Resources and attention are limited. The declaration of a national emergency would only create another web of lawsuits and challenges, along with terrible press, all for very little in return. Instead, the administration should focus all its energy on the kinds of issues laid out by Davenport, publish the long-awaited EPA regulations to limit tailpipe emissions, and accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, which is already happening as prices are coming down to the level of a typical new car. Issue the new rule, one that can satisfy the latest Supreme Court ruling that

creates stricter limits on power plant pollution and compels electric utilities to lower their emissions, which is supported by a strong majority of Americans. Place major restrictions on methane, which legal experts believe would have a strong chance to withstand legal challenges. And finally, lean into the state action, where so much of the best climate change work is already being done. Biden could also take the more controversial step of embracing an expansion of nuclear energy and investment in the research of nuclear energy, which would both have huge climate benefits and draw support from across the aisle. We are already the top nuclear energy producer in the world, and we could continue to lead the way. If we are truly to treat climate change as a global

emergency, we need to embrace all the options we have that help get us to net zero emissions and beyond. I know nuclear energy is controversial, and addressing that in a separate issue is something that is probably long overdue, so please let me know your thoughts ahead of time. But personally, I don't see a way the U.S. meets its goal that doesn't include nuclear power. For all the doomsday talk, the Biden administration has already taken some positive steps through the infrastructure bill and executive action on climate change. There are plenty of other options on the table that should be prioritized before a national emergency is used to ban the export of oil and pause offshore drilling. Especially if, as some advisors to the president and many Democrats believe, Manchin may come back to the table on climate change legislation in the fall.

Manchin may come back to the table on climate change legislation in the fall. Even without him, though, the president is in no position to take risky, sweeping, legally dubious executive action before he checks all the other boxes of what he can do right now. All right, that is it for my take, which brings us to your questions answered. This one is from Kyle in Orlando, Florida. He said, why don't the Democrats liberals broadcast their ideas more vocally and as often as the Republicans conservatives do, especially the president? He should go on TV and all social media the way that the other guy did. So Kyle, I'm not really sure. I think there are kind of two potential

answers. One, they know some of their major positions are unpopular and they don't want to defend them publicly, which is true of both political parties. Two, President Biden has not been very good in televised interviews or in scrums with reporters, and they worry that putting him on TV all day could result in a lot of gaffes and missteps. Frankly, I think Democrats are very weak messengers, especially compared to Donald Trump and his administration. For instance, in our story that matters from Monday, I noted how Biden had secured a deal for $1.5 billion of funding from Mexico on border infrastructure. That story was six days old. I'm a political reporter and somehow missed it. It's possible

that was just a random lapse in my own news consumption, but I scoured both of Biden's Twitter pages and found no mention of the deal. Perhaps Democrats don't want to promote border security agreements, but that seems foolish to me. If it were President Trump, he would have talked about securing this money nonstop for 48 hours every chance he got. Remember, Trump promised to get Mexico to pay for his border wall, but never actually got a dime. Imagine if he had secured $1.5 billion. How Biden's team hasn't leveraged this to show off to the many Americans who care about border security to me is astounding. He didn't even spare a single tweet. I say this often, but yes, I agree. I think Democrats and Republicans have the majorities on their side on a few huge wedge issues, but I think Republicans are a lot better at broadcasting and articulating those positions than Democrats are.

And when they make progress towards something they know is popular, they are much better at celebrating it. All right, that is it for your questions answered, which brings us to our story that matters for the day. Sales of existing home prices fell 5.4% in June, dropping for a fifth consecutive month, while home prices hit a record median of $416,000. The U.S. housing market is now rapidly cooling as prices have risen alongside mortgage rates, which has slowed down home sales. The slower activity is one sign of a potential recession. A combination of higher prices and higher mortgage rates have clearly shifted the dynamics in the

housing market, Lawrence Young, the National Association of Realtors chief economist, told the Wall Street Journal. People who want to buy are simply priced out given the affordability challenges. The Wall Street Journal has the story. There's a link to it in today's newsletter. Wall Street Journal has the story, there's a link to it in today's newsletter. All right, next up is our numbers section. The amount of money the Biden administration has already allocated to lowering household energy costs is $8 billion. The amount in acres of offshore areas in the Gulf of Mexico the Biden administration is proposing for wind energy infrastructure is $700,000. The number of homes that could be is proposing for wind energy infrastructure is 700,000. The number of homes that could be powered by the wind energy projects in those areas is 3 million.

The rise in global energy-related carbon emissions in 2021 from the previous year was 6%. The amount of global CO2 emissions in 2021, the highest annual amount ever recorded, was 36.3 billion tons. The percentage of overall CO2 emissions growth across the globe that came from coal was 40%. All right, and last but not least, our have a nice day section. In Dubai, the world's largest vertical farm is now under construction. A city known for importing almost all of its produce due to the arid conditions and limited water is now going to construct a giant vertical

farm that can grow 2 million pounds of leafy greens each year. Emirates Flight Catering is partnering with Boston-based Crop One to build a 333,000 square foot facility to house growing lettuce, arugula, spinach, and mixed greens. The farm uses 95% less water than required for growing in a field with no herbicides or pesticides. The lighting, humidity, and nutrients are all tracked with artificial intelligence. Thread.com has the story, and there's a link to it in today's newsletter. All right, everybody, that is it for the podcast. Quick reminder, you won't hear from us tomorrow

unless you become a tangle member you have to go to readtangle.com membership to do that and a little secret if you go to readtangle.com podcast there is still an offer up a little bit longer for podcast listeners but it's going to get shut down soon tomorrow we are going to be covering a little roundup of all the januaryth hearings. So I think it's something you're going to want to read. So go subscribe, readtangle.com slash podcast, or if you missed the window for the offer, readtangle.com slash membership. Also, one last thing before you go, just so you know, the podcast is off next week. I know I can hear you all crying through my headphones. I'm going to be traveling for something kind of special.

I will be talking about it in the newsletter. The newsletter will still be coming out early next week. There will be a note about that, but there won't be a podcast. We will also probably put up a heads up in the podcast just in case you don't listen to this. So you should all know before the week is out but um yeah we'll be back in about a week and a half and i'll explain why pretty soon have a good one peace our newsletter is written by isaac saul edited by bailey saul sean brady ari weitzman

and produced in conjunction with tangle's social media manager, Magdalena Bokova, who also helped create our logo. The podcast is edited by Trevor Eichhorn, and music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. For more from Tangle, subscribe to our newsletter or check out our content archives at www.readtangle.com. The flu remains a serious disease. Thank you. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages 6 months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at FluCellVax.ca. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu,

a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+.