President Biden Announces Plans to Cut U.S. Carbon Emissions By 2030

Chief Political Correspondent Jessica Smith joins Alexis Christoforous to discuss President Biden's announcements at his two-day climate summit.

Video transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: President Biden's virtual two-day climate summit with 40 world leaders is wrapping up. And in the final session this morning, Biden shifted the conversation from the threat of climate change to economic opportunity. Our chief political correspondent, Jessica Smith, is with us now with the very latest. Hi, Jess.

JESSICA SMITH: Hi, Alexis. President Biden and members of his administration this morning highlighted the potential job opportunities, economic opportunity that could come from investing in fighting climate change. He said future jobs will revolve around electric vehicles, charging stations, solar panels, sustainable farming, and more. He also stressed that as the world transitions to clean energy, people in other industries shouldn't be left behind. He says everyone should have job opportunities in the industries of tomorrow. Let's watch.

JOSEPH BIDEN: This is a moment for all of us to build better economies for our children and our grandchildren and all of us to thrive, to thrive in not just now, but beyond for the next generations. Nations that work together to invest in a cleaner economy will reap rewards for their citizens.

JESSICA SMITH: And the US and other countries did make commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions during this summit. And now the president says the real work starts as they try to achieve those goals. Of course, much of President Biden's climate change will require cooperation from Congress. So the White House did say today that they think they'll be able to meet their goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by about 50% by 2030, even if President Biden's entire infrastructure doesn't make it through Congress. So we'll be watching to see what the White House and lawmakers are able to get done from now and when world leaders meet again to talk about climate later in November. Alexis.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: And Jess, I know that efforts to help the US compete with China are gaining steam on Capitol Hill. And in fact, it's one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement in Washington. And I know you spoke with two lawmakers sort of leading that push. What did they have to say?

JESSICA SMITH: Right, well, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer directed the Senate to come up with a comprehensive package to help the US outcompete China. And now we're really starting to see that take shape. This week, they did unveil the Endless Frontier Act. That is a bipartisan bill. Majority Leader Schumer and Senator Todd Young are putting this together, along with lawmakers in the House. What it does is it calls for $100 billion invested in research and development, in science and technology. They say that the US is not keeping up with China in certain high technology areas. And they want to change that. It also calls for $10 billion for regional technology hubs that will focus on workforce development and education.

And finally, it creates a supply chain resiliency and crisis response program. So one of the goals is to make sure shortages like the ones we're seeing with chips right now don't happen again. I did talk to Senator Young and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who introduced the House version of the bill. And they say that Congress has no choice but to act. Let's watch.

TODD YOUNG: The numbers are classified. But suffice it to say that it is-- it's just sobering how close the Chinese Communist Party is to surpassing the level of advancement of the United States in a number of these different technology areas.

RO KAHNNA: Yeah, I think people understand we have to reindustrialize America. We have to lead in technologies of the future. They want America, not China or another country to win when it comes to artificial intelligence, quantum computing, synthetic biology, clean technology, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors. And that's something that people across the political spectrum recognize.

JESSICA SMITH: The White House did put out a statement about the bill after it was introduced this week, praising its goals and saying that the president would work with Congress to further shape it. A Senate committee is set to consider it later next week. Alexis.