JUST IN: Biden Delivers Remarks On Extreme Weather As Hurricane Beryl Strengthens To Category 5

2 months ago

President Biden delivered remarks on Tuesday about extreme weather.

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Transcript

00:00you

00:30you

00:52please welcome President of the United States Joe Biden accompanied by Mayor

00:57Bowser and Director Clint Osborne

01:02to the stage.

01:30President Biden to the district's emergency operations center. We call it the EOC. We

01:37just came from a briefing with the president and members of this cabinet on extreme weather.

01:44And I want to recognize and thank Secretary Mayorkas, who has been with us here at the

01:50EOC when we opened it in 2023. This state of the art facility was built with the president's

01:58help with a $7.5 million grant from DHS. I want to thank all of the members of the

02:05EOC team that you see behind us, Mr. President. They work daily with partners across the district

02:12to keep us safe. We have activated this EOC more than two dozen times since opening last

02:19year. I've had to declare 34 heat emergencies. And as we know, and we've been briefed on

02:27today, they're happening earlier and lasting longer. And in the middle of a heat emergency,

02:33for example, last year, this EOC responded to Canadian wildfires and the impacts of those

02:40fires on our city. A month later, we activated again when we had a short but devastating

02:47storm in part in a part of D.C. And we're seeing more and more of the heat. The heat

02:53is more extreme. The rain is more severe. And in the winter, we're also seeing swings

03:00of one extreme to the other. We are proud, Mr. President, to work with you in it because

03:07of your bipartisan infrastructure law. D.C. will receive over $3.5 billion to upgrade

03:16our infrastructure so that our city is more resilient. We know that this is the hard work

03:25of government, the quality of our lives and our children's lives depend on this work and

03:31our future depends on this work. And we know that with the leadership of the Biden administration,

03:38we'll get this right. Ladies and gentlemen, our president, Joe Biden.

03:42Good afternoon. Now, if my father were here, he's looking down, he'd have to turn and say,

03:57I apologize for my back. Thank you very much. You're doing a hell of a job, all of you.

04:06Look, Mayor, thanks for that introduction and joining me today at the D.C. Emergency

04:10Operations Center. I also want to thank the first responders who risked their lives every

04:14single day running into danger to save others while everyone's running away from danger.

04:19I'm here to talk about how we're preparing and responding to the dangerous impacts of

04:24extreme weather and the climate crisis that's affecting people all around America, all around

04:29the country. Matter of fact, beyond around America. You know, summer has just started.

04:35Already, already, tens of millions of Americans are under heat warnings from record shattering

04:41temperatures. Last month here in D.C., temperature at 100 degrees. In Phoenix, Arizona, 112 degrees.

04:48In Las Vegas, 111 degrees. Above normal temperatures also expected for much of the country in July,

04:55especially in central and eastern United States. Extreme heat. This is, I think, going

05:00to surprise a lot of people, not you all. But extreme heat is the number one weather

05:04related killer in the United States. More people die from extreme heat than floods,

05:09hurricanes and tornadoes combined. Say that again. Combined. More people die from heat

05:16than those three other major issues. And look, right now we're also tracking Hurricane Barrow,

05:22which is passing through the Caribbean. It's the earliest time ever a dangerous category

05:27five hurricane has been recorded in American history. People impacted, islands and communities

05:34are in our prayers and we stand by to provide assistance to them. Look, extreme weather

05:40events drive home a point that I've been saying for so long. Ignoring climate change is deadly

05:47and dangerous and irresponsible. These climate-fueled extreme weather events don't just affect

05:53people's lives, they also cost money, they hurt the economy, and they have a significant

05:58negative psychological effect on people. Last year, the largest weather-related disasters

06:03cost over, get this, $90 billion in damages in America. $90 billion in damages. That's

06:10the cost so far, last year. They drove nearly 2.5 million people out of their homes, from

06:16Hawaii to Vermont. These events also pose serious threats to our nation's transportation

06:22system, to our power grid, farms, fisheries, and forests. In each case, costing lives and

06:30costing money. And the impacts we're seeing are only going to get worse, get more frequent,

06:35more ferocious, hitting our most vulnerable people in the most hard-to-sit communities

06:39in the world. Look, you know, we can change all that. It's within our power. That's why

06:45today I'm announcing five new actions my administration is taking to address extreme

06:49weather, including heat and other hazards. The first, the Department of Labor is proposing

06:54a new rule that, when finalized, will establish the nation's first-ever federal safety standard

07:00for excessive heat in the workplace. This includes things like developing response plans

07:05to heat illness, training employees and supervisors, implementing rest breaks, access to shade

07:12and water. You'd think we'd have to tell people access to shade and water. I mean,

07:17gradually leading new employees into heat environments. Across the country, workers

07:22suffer heat stroke or even die just doing their jobs. This new rule will substantially

07:28reduce heat injuries, illnesses, and deaths for over 36 million workers to whom it will

07:34apply, from farm workers to construction workers, postal workers, manufacturing workers, and

07:40so much more. You know, I want to thank Vice President Harris for the work she has done

07:45since she was in the United States Senate that led to this rule. Second, in the coming

07:50days, my federal emergency management will also finalize a rule to improve our nation's

07:55resilience against flooding. Resilience. FEMA will now factor in the effects of future flooding

08:02for any federally funded construction project. That is, you can look at what caused damage,

08:08what broke down, and what the best way to repair it is. Not just bring it back to what

08:13it was, but prioritize making it better. Prioritize nature-based solutions to reduce risk of floods.

08:20Look, third, FEMA is announcing, excuse me, nearly $1 billion in grants for over 650 projects

08:28across the country that help communities protect against natural disasters, including extreme

08:33heat, storms, and flooding. These grants will also help advance my Justice 40 initiative

08:39to deliver at least 40 percent of overall benefits of clean transit, clean energy, and

08:45climate investment to devastated communities, to the poor communities who are always left

08:49behind. Fourth, the Environmental Protection Agency is releasing a new report showing the

08:55continued impacts of climate change on the health of the American people and on our environment.

09:00This report will help us prepare better, respond faster, and save more lives. And fifth, later

09:07this summer, my administration will convene the first-ever White House Summer on Extreme

09:11Heat, bringing together state, local, tribal, and territorial leaders and international

09:17partners who are protecting communities and workers from extreme weather every single

09:21solitary day. You know, along with these actions, another reason why we're here today is to

09:28get the word out so folks know these resources are available to them and anyone who needs

09:34them. You got – I was telling the group when they briefed me earlier, my brother has

09:39an expression, you got to know how to know. We think everybody understands government.

09:44It's complicated. We want the American people to know help is here, how to get that help.

09:49Follow the guidance from local leaders and public safety officials. Stay indoors, somewhere

09:54cool if you're vulnerable. Be careful on hot pavement. Know the signs of heat stroke

10:00like headache, nausea, and dizziness. And always have water with you whenever you're

10:04outside this summer. Today's announcements build on historic action my administration

10:10has already taken to address extreme heat events. And we launched a new website, heat.gov.

10:16Let me say it again, heat.gov. It shares life-saving information and links a new heat risk

10:24tool to help communities forecast extreme heat. Just enter your zip code and see the

10:30heat forecast not only generically, generally, but in your community where you're living.

10:35And we'll get back to exactly what the heat forecast for your neighborhood is.

10:40My Department of Labor also created the first ever national program to protect workers from

10:45heat stress. We've invested billions to enhance our power grid, expand energy shortages so

10:52that lights, air conditioning, refrigeration, internet stay on during heat waves, storms,

10:58and other climate changes. It's building back a different way. All told, we've invested

11:03a record more than $50 billion for climate resilience, including against extreme heat

11:08and wildfires. But that's not all. The American Rescue Plan is helping states and cities promote

11:15energy efficiency, reduce the impacts from flooding, and open cooling centers. People

11:20have to know where to go, where they can go in their neighborhood. It's just not automatic.

11:26Through the bipartisan infrastructure law, we're delivering over $20 billion to lower

11:31your energy costs, upgrading the electric grid to withstand stronger heat waves and

11:36storms. And my Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant climate investment ever in

11:41the history of the world, anywhere in the world, has already created 300,000 new jobs,

11:47building clean energy we need to cut our emissions and to lead the world.

11:51Unfortunately, my predecessor and the MAGA Republicans in Congress are trying to undo

11:56all this progress. They still deny climate change even exists. They deny climate change

12:03even exists. They must be living in a hole somewhere. At the expense of health and safety

12:09of their own constituents, they deny it exists. Every single congressional Republican voted

12:15against the investments which created these jobs to combat climate change. Many of them

12:20are trying to repeal those climate provisions and kill those jobs. I quite frankly think

12:25it's not only outrageous, it's really stupid. Everyone who willfully denies the impacts

12:30of climate change is condemning the American people of a dangerous future and either is

12:35really, really dumb or has some other motive than that. How can you deny there's climate

12:41change, for God's sake? Let me close with this. When disaster strikes, there are no

12:47red states or blue states. I've demonstrated that. I said no matter whether you vote for

12:52me or not, everyone's going to get treated fairly. They're just communities, not red

12:56communities, blue communities. They're just communities. Families looking for help. My

13:01administration is going to be there for you every step of the way. We just have to remember

13:05who we are, for God's sake. We're the United States of America. The United States of America.

13:10There's nothing, nothing, nothing beyond our capacity if we work together. So God bless

13:16you all. We're just getting started here, man. I'm confident we're going to get this

13:20done. Now I want to turn it over to Clint Osborne, acting director of D.C. Homeland

13:26Security and Emergency Management Agency, to tell you what his team's incredible work

13:31is doing on the front lines for extreme weather events. Where are you, pal? Right behind you.

13:38Well done. By the way, this guy does everything. Like getting in the elevator. He's operating

13:50the elevator. I tell you, that's what it's called, full service, man. Full service, white

13:55glove emergency management. Thank you, man. Yes, sir.

13:59Thank you, Mr. President. Good morning. I'm Clint Osborne, acting director of the District

14:10of Columbia's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. I'm honored to welcome

14:14you, Mr. President, and members of your administration, as well as Mayor Bowser and members of her

14:18administration, to the District's Emergency Operations Center, or EOC. Here at HCEMA,

14:23we have more than 120 staff members who work every day to ensure the health and safety

14:27of our district residents, businesses, and visitors. You'll also see around us partners,

14:32hundreds of partners that we have at the state and local and federal level, who come to this

14:36center to make sure everything works during emergencies. During an emergency or disaster,

14:41our team also works to disseminate timely life safety information to help residents

14:46make informed decisions for themselves and their families. And I think you've given us

14:50new guidance to make it clear, crisp, and to meet people where they are. We've activated,

14:55as Mayor Bowser said, our EOC more than 25 times in the last two years for emergencies

15:00ranging from heat waves and hurricanes to hazardous air quality incidents because of

15:04wildfires. Without the support of dozens of district and federal partners, we wouldn't

15:08be able to accomplish our mission and serve our community. I'd like to take this opportunity,

15:14Mr. President, to introduce you to just a few of the folks who make up the district

15:17EOC team.

JUST IN: Biden Delivers Remarks On Extreme Weather As Hurricane Beryl Strengthens To Category 5

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