President Joe Biden said the United States must lead the global response to the climate crisis, as he signed a raft of orders aimed at curbing rising temperatures.
In the most ambitious US effort to stave off the worst effects of climate change, President Joe Biden is aiming to cut oil, gas and coal emissions and double energy production from offshore wind turbines through executive orders.
"Just like we need a unified national response to COVID-19, we desperately need a unified national response to the climate crisis because there is a climate crisis," Mr Biden said in remarks delivered at the White House.
"We must lead the global response, because neither challenge can be met, as Secretary (John) Kerry has pointed out many times, by the United States alone."
Mr Biden had made confronting global warming a key pillar of his campaign, and on Wednesday repeatedly called it an "existential threat" as well as an opportunity for the economy and jobs growth.
"In my view, we've already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis. We can't wait any longer. We see it with our own eyes. We feel it. We know it in our bones. And it's time to act," he said.
The United States will host a summit on Earth Day on 22 April where it is expected to strengthen its carbon reduction commitments under the Paris agreement, which aims to limit long-term warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The other orders include a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal and public land; and establishing climate considerations as an essential element of US foreign policy and national security.
But Mr Biden said the US would not ban hydraulic fracturing or fracking, which has allowed the country to become the world's top producer of natural gas and is seen by policy experts as a transition energy, despite its many harmful impacts.
The administration will also resurrect a presidential council of science advisors, protect scientists from political interference, direct agencies to invest in areas with deep economic ties to fossil fuels, and assist communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harm.
The actions by the new US administration puts increasing pressure on Australia to take stronger action on climate change.
Mr Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, cited last summer’s devastating Australian bushfires as evidence that world leaders must urgently cut carbon emissions and can’t afford to lose any longer.
Addressing the World Economic Forum, Mr Kerry says he was particularly affected by an article he read over Christmas on the Australians bushfires entitled 'Watching Earth Burn' by New York Times writer Michael Benson.
"You could see huge plumes of smoke when you saw these pictures of Australia’s fires with, and I quote Michael, ‘flame vortexes spiralling 200 feet into the air’ passing New Zealand and stretching thousands of miles into the cobalt Pacific."
"Benson summed it up...With shocking iconographic precision, that unfurling banner of smoke said: The war has started. We’re losing."
The US is set to replace government vehicles with American-made electric cars, while Australia is still yet to set a policy on the issue.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry is now Joe Biden's special climate envoy. Source: AAP
Energy Minister Angus Taylor spoke with Mr Kerry on Monday, who welcomed Australia's target of achieving net zero "as soon as possible".
The pair agreed more international collaboration is needed, and the private sector needs to be encouraged to invest in developing the technology required.
