Vice President Biden has announced that he will travel to Florida on Saturday to see the damage caused by Hurricane Ida, and he has taken aim at climate change “deniers” in the process.He paid a visit to the FEMA building to express his appreciation for their hard work.He fed them a pizza lunch.Originally published at 15:23 EDT on August 31, 2023 by Emily Goodin, Senior U.S. Political Reporter
Vice President Joe Biden has condemned people who claim recent natural catastrophes are unrelated to climate change and announced that he will travel to Florida on Saturday morning to survey the damage from Hurricane Idalia.Vice President Biden made the statement while at FEMA headquarters to deliver pizza to employees and express his gratitude for their hard work over the past few weeks.Telling reporters, “I am going to Florida Saturday morning,” he departed for the Sunshine State the following day.
This is Biden’s second trip to a natural disaster zone in as many weeks. He visited Maui earlier this month to survey the devastation caused by the largest wildfire in U.S. history. Biden’s response time was questioned, and he was chastised for it. In contrast, Biden has been in frequent communication with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell in regards to Hurricane Idalia.On Thursday, he unexpectedly visited the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington, DC to express his gratitude to the whole team there.The President also condemned those who claim that the recent spate of natural disasters cannot be linked to climate change.In a speech to the employees, Vice President Joe Biden said, “We are not this engaged this often, but these last couple years with climate change and really kicking in, you guys are going 24 hours a day and 365 days a year and it seems to just keep piling up.”While acknowledging the role of climate change, he added, “there are still some deniers out there.”On Wednesday, Idalia, a hurricane of Category 3 strength, made landfall in Florida.It’s expected that President Trump will speak with Gov.
On Saturday, Ron DeSantis, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, paid a visit.In October 2022, when Biden visited Florida to survey the destruction left by Hurricane Ian, he had the opportunity to meet with DeSantis.According to a conversation I had with Governor DeSantis this morning, “it seems like we, there should be a direct dial (between) the two of us.” Biden stated on Thursday at FEMA, “I spoke with him again this morning, and I let him know that I approved his major disaster declaration.”
Biden added that he would approach Congress about requesting additional emergency funding.The White House requested a short-term financing deal from Congress on Thursday. If Congress doesn’t approve new spending by the end of September, the government will shut down.A federal shutdown, according to the president, would create a “serious, serious problem” for emergency preparedness and response.It would be a major, major issue. To prevent it from happening, I’m hoping there’s more maturity than people give credit for,’ he said. The Biden administration pushed for a stopgap measure to keep the government functioning while the two major parties bargained over budget caps.
After Hurricane Ida devastated Florida and devastating wildfires swept through Maui, the White House made the request for additional disaster aid of $12 billion.Due to numerous storms and fires this year, FEMA’s emergency budget is nearly depleted.At the White House on Tuesday, FEMA administrator Robert Criswell said that the agency was using its remaining disaster money exclusively “for critical response efforts to Idalia, the Maui fires, and any other extreme weather events.”Two deaths have been reported in Florida and one in Georgia; thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed; and over 300,000 people have been left without electricity.
Although Idalia’s status has been downgraded, she is still wreaking havoc.The whole North Carolina coast, from Onslow Bay to the Pungo River, is under a storm surge watch issued by the National Hurricane Center.
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