President Biden said Thursday that the “climate crisis” caused the deadly flooding of New York City due to Tropical Storm Ida while using the disaster to boost its $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill .
Biden spoke after at least 18 people died in New York and New Jersey, including at least eight people who drowned in flooded basement apartments in Queens and Brooklyn.
“The last days of Hurricane Ida and the wildfires in the west and the unprecedented flooding in New York and New Jersey are another reminder that these extreme storms and the climate crisis are here,” Biden said in a speech of the White House – executive office building attached to Eisenhower.
“We have to act. When Congress returns this month, I will insist on its action on my Build Back Better plan, which will make historic investments in electrical infrastructure, modernizing our roads, bridges, water systems, sewer and drainage systems, electrical networks and transmission. lines and make them more resistant to these super storms, forest fires and floods that will happen with increasing frequency and ferocity ”.
Biden spoke with Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) overnight about the floods, but in her public statements she addressed the number of deaths in the New York area just in passing and also mentioned wildfires in California and floods and power outages in Louisiana when Hurricane Ida devastated the land. ,
“People were trapped in the subway, but the heroic men and women of the New York Fire Department rescued them all,” Biden said.
“So far, 11 people in New York and New Jersey have died in the storm. And I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the first respondents. “
Biden is scheduled to visit Hurricane damage in Louisiana on Friday. He has not yet announced plans to visit the New York area.
The Senate voted 69-30 last month to pass a $ 1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that includes $ 110 billion for roads and bridges, $ 73 billion for power infrastructure and electricity and resilience, $ 55 billion for water infrastructure, $ 39 billion for public transportation, $ 7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations and $ 5 billion to buy low-emission electric buses.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has yet to hold a vote on the final passage of the bill, as Democrats seek leverage to pass a $ 3.5 trillion secondary bill without the support of Republicans through special rules of budget conciliation.
The second package faces resistance from moderate Democrats and would include many items that did not reduce the bipartisan law, including more money for renewable energy initiatives, free early childhood and preschool classes, and new subsidies for home care and child care.
