President Joe Biden is marking the first anniversary of his signature climate law with a series of speaking events and a party at the White House. The celebration of the Inflation Reduction Act’s nearly $370 billion in clean energy investments comes as climate-change-fueled disasters pummel the country. Those calamities are arguably a reminder of why the nation needed a giant climate law — but they also offer ammunition to Republican critics looking to pan Biden’s response. The wildfire in Maui has become the deadliest in modern U.S. history, and fire risks are rising across the country. Last month was the hottest in recorded history, obliterating previous highs and killing hundreds. Federal officials have revised this year’s hurricane forecast from “near normal” to “above normal,” threatening another round of devastating storms. And the nation’s disaster recovery fund could run dry this month if Congress doesn’t act. “The impact of the climate crisis is stark, and we are seeing it in real time,” Vice President Kamala Harris said today during an appearance in Seattle related to the Inflation Reduction Act. She added: “The clock is not just ticking. It is banging.” Still, Republicans — including GOP lawmakers who uniformly opposed the climate law — have accused Biden of doing too little for disaster victims in the near term. So did former President Donald Trump’s campaign, which released a video Monday offering sympathies to the victims in Maui while criticizing the administration’s response. Biden has remained relatively mum on the Hawaiian fires since signing an emergency declaration for the state last week. During a visit to Milwaukee today to talk about clean energy manufacturing, Biden said he and the first lady would travel to Hawaii “as soon as we can.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment. In combination with the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act has spurred billions of dollars in investments, including 210 major new clean energy projects. But the country — and the world — has passed the point where moving away from burning fossil fuels is sufficient. The perils of climate disasters have arrived, and protecting the public from flash flooding, extreme heat, turbocharged hurricanes, sea-level rise, drought and wildfires is complex and expensive — to make no mention of crop shortages, mass migration and property insurance meltdowns. Biden’s climate law is the most significant in U.S. history. But a recent report from Princeton University found that fully implementing all the president’s climate plans (which is not a given) would still fail to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
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