Earth Day 2022 was the perfect opportunity for President Biden’s climate change agenda to be pushed, despite the fact most people worry much more about public security than the environment these days.
With the noteworthy exception of the past president, environmental issues have become so evident, we can accomplish things we couldn’t have managed two, five, or ten years ago, Biden stated Friday in Seattle during his Earth Day speech.
Climate Goals and Public Safety
Biden signed an executive order this week to protect old-growth forests and certain types of trees. The White House says this is a step toward meeting Biden’s climate goals.
President Joe Biden is in Seattle to address our prolific crime and homelessness crisis.
Just kidding.
He’s here raising money and making untenable claims about the environment.
But it did force Seattle leaders to clear up some embarrassing encampments near his hotel at least.
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) April 22, 2022
Voters are more concerned about public safety as violence rises around the country.
In a January poll, Rasmussen found voters are more concerned about hyperinflation and violent crime than COVID-19 or climate change.
In that study, 88 percent of people expressed concern about violent crime, with 61 percent expressing “extreme concern.”
Even in Democratic strongholds, crime is a major concern.
Most Californians think crime is more important than other things, like gas prices, according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley.
World Class Idiot Biden talks climate, not crime, in crime-plagued Seattle https://t.co/xVLpH9XF4a
— d bierlein (@bierlein_d) April 23, 2022
Selecting Seattle for Biden’s Earth Day address this week reflected the president’s values, considering the city’s crime problems.
In 2021, Seattle’s crime rate surpassed the chaotic first year of the epidemic. Seattle Law Enforcement reports aggravated assaults increased 24% and arson increased 31% between 2020 and 2021.
Muggings and auto theft were substantially higher last year than a weighted sum of the preceding five years, police said.
Record Crime
Seattle’s rise in crime is hardly exceptional. Since the summer of 2020, when racial uprisings rocked the country, violent crime has increased in cities across the United States.
For several communities, a left-wing turn in prosecutorial or law enforcement policies led to record-high crime in 2021. Meanwhile, Biden proposes diverting billions of dollars from police money to climate-related activities, such as environmental justice programs.
The COVID-19 stimulus package set aside $50 million for environmental justice initiatives. The Build Back Better Act, a huge climate and social spending bill, includes more than $500 billion for projects that help the environment.
Biden’s fiscal year 2023 plan would add $45 billion to current climate and energy spending. The increase in federal law enforcement funding proposed by Biden is only $1.7 billion.
Despite the issue’s low public attention, Biden prioritized it in his domestic and foreign policy speeches. In November, Biden spoke to world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Biden has also spoken against crime, but typically chooses a narrow focus on a problem that affects many people. He blamed guns for increasing violence, which experts believe has numerous reasons.
Bracing for a tough midterm election, many Democrats have abandoned progressive goals, like restricting energy production and reforming the police.
However, the Biden administration kept its focus on issues like preserving the federal mask requirement for flights and supporting a green plan that has nothing to do with how Americans will vote in November.
