Biden establishes Office of Environmental Justice, blasts GOP attempts to roll back IRA

President Biden on Friday swiped at Republican calls to end clean energy tax cuts as part of a debt limit increase as he signed an executive order creating a new White House Office of Environmental Justice.

The order, which Biden signed in a Rose Garden ceremony Friday, will create the office within the White House Council on Environmental Quality to coordinate environmental justice initiatives across federal agencies.

Biden’s order also instructed federal agencies to take steps to mitigate adverse climate effects on communities and requires them to notify the affected community in case of any release of toxic substances from a federal building.

The president, noting the timing in proximity to Earth Day, added “we have to do a great deal more than just reflect, we have to commit ourselves to action.”

During the signing ceremony, Biden also touted environmental provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the wide-ranging climate and infrastructure bill he signed in 2022.

“We’re investing in air quality sensors in communities near factories, so people who live near them can know what the risk is and how safe the air is,” he said, adding that “we’re planting millions of new trees to cool down our city streets.”

Biden also slammed the recent proposal put forth by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), which in exchange for a debt limit increase would repeal several clean energy tax credits, including provisions within the IRA.

“The MAGA Republicans in Congress want to repeal climate protections in the Inflation Reduction Act. They’d rather threaten to default the U.S. economy … than get rid of $30 billion in taxpayer subsidies to an oil industry that made $200 billion last year,” he said. “Imagine taking all those clean energy jobs away from working-class folks all across America. Imagine turning your back on all those moms and dads living in towns poisoned by pollution and saying ‘sorry, you’re on your own.’”

“We can’t let that happen,” Biden added.

McCarthy unveiled the Republican proposal on Wednesday. Although it’s unclear whether the bill has the votes to pass the narrow GOP majority, it almost certainly would be dead on arrival in the Democratic Senate.