The Biden administration began its Leaders Summit on Climate on 22 April with a montage of shots of planet Earth from space, overlaid with astronauts’ comments about how thin and fragile the atmosphere appeared.
“And here’s this thin, blue, iridescent band…everything that enables life to exist on this amazing ball of rock, flying through space,” says Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart in the voiceover.
In a stark shift from the previous administration, President Joe Biden hosted leaders from 25 nations, as well as the heads of the United Nations and the European Commission, in a two-day seminar on climate change and the challenges – and opportunities – it presents.
“The signs are unmistakable. The science is undeniable. And the consequences of inaction keep mounting,” President Biden says in his opening remarks.
President Biden promised more “resilient and competitive” economies for the countries willing to invest in a clean-energy future, Kallanish notes.
“I see line workers laying thousands of miles of transmission lines for a clean, modern, reliable grid…I see auto workers building the next generation of electric vehicles and electricians installing nationwide for 500,000 charging stations along our highways,” he says. “I see the engineers and the construction workers, building new carbon capture and green hydrogen plants, to forge cleaner steel and cement and produce clean power.”
Dan Hilliard USA
