"Against the backdrop of a hemispheric heat wave, the president used executive authority to help the vulnerable endure broiling temperatures, but did little to address the changing climate driving them."

"President Joe Biden pledged Wednesday that he would treat climate change as an emergency, but his only immediate exercise of executive authority was to move federal funding to help communities and low-income households cope with the heat.

The president promised that more steps would be announced in the coming days, but many climate action advocates voiced frustration with what they view as a halting and inadequate response to both a planetary and political crisis.

“The President has been put in the position where basically he has to put up or shut up,” said John Beard, founder and executive director of the Port Arthur Community Action Network, 90 miles east of Houston. “He can no longer tell us about these things, and not take the action necessary.”"

Marianne Lavelle reports for Inside Climate News July 21, 2022. [2]