\u201cThe nation and the world are in peril,\u201d President Biden said after touring storm damage in New York and Jersey. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not hyperbole. That is a fact.\u201d<\/b>
\nThe following is a transcript of President Biden\u2019s remarks about climate change and Hurricane Ida after he toured damage from the storm in neighborhoods in New York and New Jersey on Tuesday. Chuck, thank you very much. As the old joke goes, my father were here, he\u2019d say thank you, and my mother were here, she would say, \u201cWho are you talking about?\u201d Look, folks, let me begin by saying I wish every American could walk down this alley with me to see and talk to the people who have been devastated, just talk to them. None of them were shouting or complaining. Every one of them were thanking me as if it was something special \u2014 I mean it sincerely \u2014 that I was here and hoped that we\u2019d be able to do something. This is America, where I am standing right now. These are the people, whether it\u2019s Scranton or Claremont or anywhere around the world \u2014 the country, who built this country. And it\u2019s about time we step up. They\u2019re always the first ones that are hurt and the last ones that are helped. But that\u2019s not going to happen this time. The group I have standing with me led by Chuck Schumer and your \u2014 Congresswoman, is this your district? Oh, it\u2019s Grace\u2019s district. I want to thank her personally for her gumption, the way she\u2019s fought and hollered and fought so hard for all the people in this alley. I really mean it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. But that goes for everybody here. And look, folks. You know, I want to thank governor for \u2014 and Leader Schumer and Kirsten \u2014 I should say Senator Gillibrand \u2014 and Congresswoman [Grace] Meng and [Representative Carolyn B.] Maloney and [Representative Gregory W.] Meeks, Mayor [Bill] de Blasio for being here. You know, it\u2019s not \u2014 how can I say this? Sometimes some very bad things happen that have a tendency to bring out the best in a people and a country. And I think what people are seeing across this country, from the wildfires in California and the Far West, which I\u2019m heading to in a couple days, all the way to, down in Louisiana in the Gulf, where I was a couple days ago, to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, to a lesser extent, Delaware, to a lesser extent, and New York. People are beginning to realize this is much, much bigger than anyone was willing to believe. And the whole segment of our population denying this thing called climate change. But I really mean it. Sometimes my mother used to say out of everything bad, something good will come if you look hard enough for it. Well, I think we\u2019ve all seen, even the climate skeptics are seeing that this really does matter. And it\u2019s not just whether or not people who are just trying to get by in these homes, in these alleys here, working their butts off, do well. It\u2019s people in high towers along the shore who find that as this rain and all this change takes place in the groundwater, the buildings are actually beginning to tilt. Hundred-story buildings \u2014 this goes so far beyond what anybody\u2019s willing to speak to up to now. We just finished surveying some of the damage in the neighborhood, here in Queens. And earlier today, we were in the Raritan Valley in New Jersey, which also got badly, badly hit. Walking these neighborhoods, meeting the families and the first responders, seeing how folks are doing after this destruction and pain and another devastating storm, is an eye-opener. The people who stand on the other side of the fences who don\u2019t live there, who are yelling that we are talking about and interfering with free enterprise by doing something about climate change \u2014 they don\u2019t live there. They don\u2019t live, they don\u2019t understand. And you know, last week, right here, in so many other communities, these waves crashed through the streets here, testing the aging infrastructure and taking lives. More lives were taken here than down in Louisiana. Let me say that again. They had over 20 inches of rain. They had 178-mile-an-hour winds, gusts. And more lives were taken here than down in Louisiana. And you know, you all saw the harrowing images of stories and families trapped in flooding basements and struggling to survive. Well, you didn\u2019t have to \u2014 you just go along this valley. I\u2019m sure the press has done that. My message to everyone grappling with this devastation is: We\u2019re here, we\u2019re not going home till this gets done. I really mean that. We\u2019re not leaving. We\u2019re going to continue to shout as long as it takes to get real progress here. Folks \u2014 and we have to take some bold action now to tackle the accelerating effects of climate. If we don\u2019t act \u2014 now I\u2019m going to be heading, as Chuck knows, as the senator knows, I\u2019m going to be heading from here to Glasgow, Scotland, for the COP meeting [United Nations Climate Change Conference], which is all the nations of the world getting together to decide what we are going to do about climate change. And John Kerry, the former secretary of state, is leading our effort, putting it together. We are determined, we are determined that we are going to deal with climate change and have zero emissions, net emissions by 2050. By 2020, make sure all our electricity is zero emissions. We\u2019re going to be able to do these things. But we\u2019ve got to move. We\u2019ve got to move. And we\u2019ve got to move the rest of the world. It\u2019s not just the United States of America. And so, folks, this summer alone, communities with over 100 million Americans \u2014 100 million Americans call home \u2014 have been struck by extreme weather. One in every three Americans has been victimized by severe weather. The hurricanes along the Gulf, the East Coast, up through this community. And I saw the human and physical cost firsthand, as I said, in Louisiana. But, governor, you called Phil Murphy \u2014 Governor Murphy \u2014 so many leading with urgency and action are saying enough, enough. And there\u2019s not a single request I\u2019m aware of \u2014 there may be something \u2014 that we haven\u2019t signed off on, that we haven\u2019t signed off yet. And here\u2019s the deal. The New York Fire Department, the New York Police Department, the Sanitation Department and other first responders, they\u2019re leading with incredible, incredible courage. Two linemen have been killed in trying to make sure we have [inaudible]. And, folks, the evidence is clear. Climate change poses an existential threat to our lives, to our economy, and the threat is here, it\u2019s not going to get any better. The question: Can it get worse? We can stop it from getting worse. And when I talk about building back better \u2014 and Chuck is fighting for my program, for our program on the Hill \u2014 when I talk about building back better, I mean you can\u2019t build to what it was before this last storm. You got to build better so that if the storm occurred again, there would be no damage. There would be. But that\u2019s not going to stop us, though, because if we just do that, it\u2019s just going to get worse and worse and worse. Because the storms are going to get worse and worse and worse. And so, folks, we\u2019ve got to listen to the scientists and the economists and the national security experts. They all tell us this is code red. The nation and the world are in peril. And that\u2019s not hyperbole. That is a fact. They\u2019ve been warning us the extreme weather would get more extreme over the decade, and we\u2019re living in it real time now. We can look around the wreckage and the ruins and the heartbreak from so many communities to feel it. You don\u2019t understand, you can feel it, you can taste it, you can see it. Precious lives lost in Louisiana and New Jersey and New York. Families living in shelters, subway stations flooded, decaying infrastructure pushed beyond the limits, lives and livelihoods interrupted once again. We\u2019re working closely with the governors and mayors and members of Congress and community leaders. On Sunday, I immediately approved the disaster declaration of Governor [Kathy] Hochul to rush federal assistance to where it was needed \u2014 here. FEMA\u2019s working intensively with state and local officials, assessing the damage and mobilizing resources. One of the things I want to thank Chuck for, as leader of the Senate: He has helped mobilize state, local and federal. When they\u2019re all working together, that\u2019s when things happen positively. The health and human services secretary is working with the state to ensure folks on Medicare and Medicaid get the emergency care they needed. They\u2019re going to make sure it\u2019s equitable so that the hardest hit, including lower-income folks, communities of color and the elderly and the most vulnerable, get help and get it first. They are the ones in the greatest need. And there\u2019s much to be done in working around the clock in all these critical needs and areas. Look, I say to anyone who can hear this if this is broadcast: If you need help, please go to disasterassistance.gov. Or call 1-800-621-FEMA.1-800-621-3362. We can get you help now. And I know these disasters aren\u2019t going to stop. They\u2019re only going to come with more frequency and ferocity. As I said, I\u2019m working in Congress to pass two important pieces of legislation that this man here is honchoing through the Congress for me. The bipartisan plan to modernize our physical infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our power transmissions, our distribution lines. How many bridges I just went through in New Jersey that had been overflowed by the river? The river\u2019s gone higher than the bridges, having done damage to them. My \u201cBuild Back Better\u201d plan with key investments to fight climate change, cutting emissions and make things more resilient. Each dollar we invest, every dollar \u2014 we raise a city block by two feet, flood-proof power stations, sanitations, reduction in the buildup of kindling in our forest, installing electrical lines underground rather than overhead \u2014 saves us six dollars for every single dollar we spend to do those things. Because the next time disaster strikes, the flood is contained, the fire doesn\u2019t spread as widely, and power stays on. Not to mention those investments save lives, homes and create good-paying union jobs. I hosted 56 heads of state in Washington. And I pointed out, we\u2019re talking about climate change, and I said I think of one word when I think of climate change: jobs. Good-paying jobs. Each of these things requires a good-paying job, not $7 or $12 or $15, but $45, $50 an hour plus health care. That\u2019s what is needed. And so, folks \u2014 and also, Wall Street, not too far from here, acknowledges that if we spend the money on these things, we\u2019re going to grow the economy, increase employment. You know, the fire in Oregon sent smoke all the way to the Atlantic. A storm in the Gulf, as you have now figured out, can reverberate 10 states away. Supply chains and crop production get interrupted, driving up costs, devastating industries all over America. This is everybody\u2019s crisis. Everybody\u2019s crisis. And let me just say, again: The fact is that the damage done on the West Coast, which I\u2019ll be heading to, they\u2019ve already burned five million acres to the ground. That\u2019s bigger than the state of New Jersey, if I\u2019m not mistaken. Five million acres. And you see it by the smoke that ends up coming over the East Coast. Folks, we\u2019re all in this. It\u2019s about time we stopped the regional fights and understand helping somebody make sure there\u2019s no fewer fires in the West warrants helping people in this alley make sure they\u2019re not flooded. And by the way, it\u2019s not just the flooding. I\u2019ll end with this \u2014 not just the flooding. Flooding ends up overrunning sanitation systems. And it causes disease. People get sick, and it\u2019s serious, serious business. So we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do. Again, it\u2019s good-paying jobs. We can put the economy back on a path to real growth. But in the meantime, we\u2019re going to save a whole hell of a lot of people\u2019s lives, and we\u2019re going to save a whole hell of a lot of money. God bless you all. Let\u2019s get this done.<\/p>\n