The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released on Monday a devastating report showing that aggressive action is necessary to slow down global warming.
As The Daily Beast put it, the report showed that "we’re already f**cked" and that the current situation is a "code red for humanity."
Unless governments around the world immediately take action, the UN warned, the global temperature will continue to rise and cause unprecedented, irreversible crises.
Despite this, on Wednesday, President Joe Biden urged the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to pump more oil.
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In a statement, which is available in full on whitehouse.gov, Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that "higher gasoline costs, if left unchecked, risk harming the ongoing global recovery."
"While OPEC+ recently agreed to production increases, these increases will not fully offset previous production cuts that OPEC+ imposed during the pandemic until well into 2022. At a critical moment in the global recovery, this is simply not enough."
"President Biden has made clear that he wants Americans to have access to affordable and reliable energy, including at the pump," Sullivan added.
Climate Change
The White House’s moves appear to be at odds with Biden’s rhetoric and campaign promises.
During the 2020 presidential race, when he competed against then-President Donald Trump, Biden famously promised to do all in his power to tackle climate change and gradually reduce emissions.
However, Biden has vehemently opposed the Green New Deal, a progressive proposal that calls for extensive investments in renewable energy and green industries.
On the day the IPCC released its devastating report, Biden posted a tweet — which can be viewed below — saying that the United States must tackle climate change.
Biden Is Following In Obama’s Footsteps
When it comes to tackling climate change, Biden appears to be following in former President Barack Obama’s footsteps.
As The Daily Poster recently noted, when he first ran for president, Obama vowed to take on the fossil fuel industry and curb global warming.
Once elected, however, Obama increased oil production and then bragged about it.
"American energy production, you wouldn’t always know it, but it went up every year I was president. Suddenly America is like, the biggest oil producer — That was me, people. Just say, ‘Thank you,’ please," he said in 2018, two years after leaving office.
Biden’s Climate Policies
Immediately after assuming office, Biden signed an executive order to have the U.S. reenter the landmark Paris Agreement, which aims to lower the global average temperature by 1.5 degrees by the mid-2030.
Biden also tapped former Secretary of State John Kerry for the position of Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.
After accepting the offer earlier this year, Kerry said that the world has just nine years to avert a major climate catastrophe.
"There is no room for B.S. anymore. There’s no faking it on this one," he stated at the time.
