Reporters aboard Air Force One pressed the White House Friday about declaring a climate emergency.
A heat wave is sweeping the United States this summer, leading to questions about the long-term effect of climate change and the government's role in addressing it.
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Multiple reporters asked if the record heat might lead President Joe Biden to declare a national emergency. Biden is speaking in Maine to tout his "Bidenomics" approach to the economy.
"About 200 million Americans right now are under a heat or flood advisory," one reporter said to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. "Some Arizona lawmakers are saying an emergency should be declared. What would it take for the president to declare an emergency, and would he consider declaring a climate emergency?"
Declaring a national emergency would grant the president additional powers and, in some cases, allow him to circumvent Congress in making decisions.
Jean-Pierre did not promise an emergency declaration but stressed that Biden takes the issue seriously.
"The president just last year used his emergency authorities to invoke the Defense Production Act to supercharge domestic clean energy manufacturing," she said. "His plans and his actions have been ambitious to combat the climate crisis."
The press secretary also lashed out at Republicans who "deny climate change" and claimed that Biden had done more than any other president to address the issue.
Another reporter asked about a climate activist who interrupted Jean-Pierre yesterday to demand action on global warming. The press secretary said she had not spoken with the activist but shared her concerns.
"It's important that our young people speak up," Jean-Pierre said. "I was proud to hear what she had to say."
It wasn't the first time in recent memory that journalists have pressed the issue with the White House. In January, a reporter asked if flying Air Force One was responsible due to the jumbo jet's enormous emissions.
On Friday, a third reporter brought up the topic of declaring an emergency, this time focusing on the scientific community.
"It's not just activists," the reporter said. "There was a climate scientist earlier this week who published an op-ed that said not declaring a climate emergency is anti-science."
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Jean-Pierre deflected the charge.
"The president believes in science," she said. "Which is why he talks about climate change and why he said the climate crisis is real ... It is such a difference to what we see from Republicans who don't even acknowledge climate change."