In a Proclamation issued today commemorating April 22, 2023 as Earth Day, President Biden called climate change “a clear and present danger” and asked Americans to “reflect on the need to protect our precious Earth; to heed the call to combat our climate and biodiversity crises while growing the economy; and to keep working for a healthier, safer, more equitable future for all.”
In addition to highlighting the establishment of NOAA and the EPA, passage of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Endangered Species Act, and federal actions related to reduce greenhouse gas emissions reduction and environmental justice, the Proclamation also underscored conservation actions including the “America the Beautiful” initiative to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. In doing so, Biden said the administration “in its first year…protected more territory than any administration” since Kennedy.
