In response to the State of the Union, Collin Rees, Oil Change International US Program Manager, said:
“While fires rage in Texas and we prepare for yet another hottest year on record, Biden’s mention of the climate crisis in the State of the Union could have been missed in a blink. Following a year of mass protest and a COP28 decision calling on countries to transition away from fossil fuels, the world is watching major oil and gas producers like the United States. Some of Biden’s actions like his recent pause on new LNG export authorizations are steps forward, but the pause does not go far enough to address the massive expansion of fossil fuels in the United States driving the climate crisis and exacerbating health and safety impacts on communities living nearby.
“Investing in renewables is one piece of the puzzle, but that alone won’t get the job done if the United States remains the world’s leading expander of oil and gas production. Biden’s climate legacy is on the line. U.S. climate leadership means stopping oil and gas expansion, ending fossil fuel subsidies and public finance for oil and gas projects overseas, and leading a just transition off fossil fuels.”