Biden garners endorsement from leading environmental organizations

President Biden on Wednesday accepted the endorsement of major environmental organizations. 

The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, the Sierra Club, NextGen PAC and the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund all endorsed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for reelection. 

This is the first time the four groups have jointly issued a presidential endorsement, which took place during the League of Conservation Voters’s Capital Dinner. 

Biden, speaking before a friendly crowd at the dinner, touted his environmental accomplishments, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which put $369 billion in spending toward climate and energy, as well as his monument designations and efforts to help communities that are disproportionately impacted by pollution. 

But, he also stressed that there is more work to be done

“We made a lot of progress but there’s so much more to do,” he said. 

He called climate change “the only truly existential threat” that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will face. 

He also sought to draw a contrast between himself and the Republican Party, which has tried to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s renewable energy tax credits. 

He said that the GOP sought to “repeal the climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act and replace them with handouts to the fossil fuel industry” and also accused Republicans of “holding the country hostage over the debt limit”

During his speech, Biden also took a shot at China, calling the country’s Belt and Road initiative, through which Beijing is financing infrastructure projects in countries around the world, a “death and destruction initiative.”

In a written statement, the organizations said that this administration “has done far more to address the climate crisis and environmental injustice than any administration in our nation’s history.”

The organizations cited Biden’s rejoining of the Paris climate agreement and his goals of cutting U.S. pollution in half by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, reaching 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035, getting to carbon neutrality by 2050 and delivering 40 percent of climate investment benefits to underserved communities. 

They also cited his passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contained significant tax credits for clean energy development. 

Broadly, the administration has sought to address climate change – in contrast with its predecessor, which rolled back numerous environmental protections. 

However, not every decision the Biden administration has made has pleased environmentalists; it particularly ruffled feathers earlier this year with the approval of the Willow oil project in Alaska. 

At the event, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also received a lifetime achievement award from the League of Conservation Voters.

— Updated at 9:20 p.m.