Climate looms large over Biden’s first State of the Union—will the coverage say so?

The author urges journalists to ensure climate change remains a central part of the coverage for President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address. While acknowledging Biden's achievements—such as rejoining the Paris Agreement and signing a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill—the text highlights contradictions, including the continued approval of oil and gas permits and the failure of the Build Back Better bill. The author contends that the press should challenge overly optimistic narratives and hold both the administration and political obstructionists accountable, noting that the West's reliance on fossil fuels complicates the response to the crisis in Ukraine.

• President Biden has achieved several climate milestones, including rejoining the Paris Agreement, setting a goal to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (relative to 2005 levels), aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050, and signing a $1.2 trillion infrastructure and jobs bill with clean energy and climate resilience provisions.
• The Biden administration's climate record is characterized by contradictions, such as granting new oil and gas drilling permits at a faster rate than the Trump administration and allowing projects like the Line 3 pipeline to proceed despite canceling the Keystone XL pipeline.
• The collapse of the Build Back Better bill, which contained the majority of the administration's climate agenda, has left the US with limited tools to address climate change; this failure is attributed in part to Senator Joe Manchin and Republican obstructionism.

APA

Hiatt, A. (2022). Climate looms large over Biden’s first State of the Union—will the coverage say so? Covering Climate Now. https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/climate-looms-large-over-bidens-first-state-of-the-union-will-the-coverage-say-so/

Chicago

Hiatt, Anna. Climate looms large over Biden’s first State of the Union—will the coverage say so? Covering Climate Now, 2022. https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/climate-looms-large-over-bidens-first-state-of-the-union-will-the-coverage-say-so/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Hiatt |first1=Anna |title=Climate looms large over Biden’s first State of the Union—will the coverage say so? |publisher=Covering Climate Now |date=1 March 2022 |url=https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/climate-looms-large-over-bidens-first-state-of-the-union-will-the-coverage-say-so/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{hiatt2022climate, author = {Hiatt, Anna}, title = {{Climate looms large over Biden’s first State of the Union—will the coverage say so?}}, publisher = {Covering Climate Now}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/climate-looms-large-over-bidens-first-state-of-the-union-will-the-coverage-say-so/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }