Biden says US spending billions to make military vehicles 'climate friendly'

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President Biden delivers remarks on 'his recent actions to lower costs and give families more breathing room' in Auburn, Washington

President Biden on Friday said his administration is working to make "every vehicle" in the United States military "climate-friendly."

The president, delivering Earth Day remarks from Seward Park in Seattle, Washington, discussed his administration’s efforts to address climate change, and called on Congress to take action.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy, healthcare and energy costs to families, at Green River College in Auburn, Washington, U.S. April 22, 2022.  (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

"One of the things I found out as President of the United States, I get to spend a lot of that money," Biden said. "We’re going to start the process where every vehicle in the United States military, every vehicle, is going to be climate-friendly — every vehicle — I mean it." 

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He added: "We’re spending billions of dollars to do it."

U.S. President Joe Biden embraces Tulalip Tribes Chairwoman Teri Gobin, who wears a traditional Native American hat, as he gives her the pen he used to sign an executive order intended as an initiative to conserve old-growth forests in federal lands, after delivering remarks about climate change and protecting national forests on Earth Day, at Seward Park in Seattle, Washington, U.S. April 22, 2022.  (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

The president said the transition is "going to matter."

Biden, last month, announced his $5.8 trillion budget proposal for 2023, which he said called for one of the "largest investments in our national security in history," including funding to ensure the U.S. military "remains the best-prepared, best-trained, best-equipped military in the world."

The budget proposes $773 billion for the Department of Defense. 

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on economy, healthcare and energy costs to families, at Green River College in Auburn, Washington, U.S. April 22, 2022. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

It is unclear what steps the Biden administration is taking to transition U.S. military vehicles from their current status to "climate-friendly."

Meanwhile, the president also said that he met with leaders of the American automobile industry, announcing that they came to an agreement on an "ambitious goal" of having 50% electric vehicles sales by year 2030.

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"That’s the commitment they made," he said. "I didn’t make it for them — they made it because they realized what the future is."

"You know, my view of this crisis, as I said, is a genuine opportunity, an opportunity to do things we wanted to do and only now become so apparent," Biden said.

As for legislation to address climate change, the president signaled to Congress: "You know, my pen’s ready. My pen’s ready to sign. I’m anxious to sign this. Get some of these bills to my desk."

U.S. President Joe Biden signs an executive order intended as an initiative to conserve old-growth forests in federal lands, after delivering remarks about climate change and protecting national forests on Earth Day, at Seward Park in Seattle, Washington, U.S. April 22, 2022. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

"We have to move quickly," Biden said as he signed an executive order Friday strengthening conservation of forests on federal lands. "With this executive order on Earth Day, we're also showing this moment of maximum threat and urgency can also be a moment of enormous hope, an enormous opportunity." 

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"You know that we know that we carry in heart and mind the image of the ideal place, the right place, the one true home," the president said. "I just think this is the beginning of a new day and we're going to just have to overtake the opposition."

He added: "I really mean it."