Congress should enact a clean-electricity standard that forces utilities to pare greenhouse gas emissions, but if lawmakers fail to deliver, the administration is prepared to act on its own, President Joe Biden’s climate chief told Bloomberg.
A clean-electricity mandate is critical for catalyzing emissions reductions, White House National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy said during a taped discussion for the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit that opened Tuesday. But she refused to say the requirement is a must-have ingredient in a broad tax-and-spending bill meant to build on a bipartisan infrastructure package.