Biden battles climate change

Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY
·5 min read
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It's another scorching summer day in the United States, but temperatures are getting back to normal in the United Kingdom. President Joe Biden announced executive actions aimed at climate change. And the BA.5 subvariant of COVID-19 is making itself known.

👋 Hey! Laura Davis here. It's Wednesday, which means it's time for Wednesday's news!

But first, a long, long time ago, I can still remember... 🎶 OK, so the first time I did karaoke, I chose "American Pie" because I knew all the lyrics and thought it would be a crowd-pleaser. This was a huge mistake – all eight minutes and 36 seconds of it. Anyway, if you were ever curious about the real meaning behind "the day the music died," Don McLean decodes it here.

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Biden announces executive actions on climate

President Joe Biden announced steps Wednesday to address climate change after his legislative agenda faced a setback in Congress. Biden said additional steps will come soon, though lawmakers are unlikely to move on the issue.

What Biden's plan includes:

  • Fighting the heat: $2.3 billion for a program that helps communities deal with heat waves, floods, wildfires and other extreme weather events, prioritizing historically disadvantaged communities.

  • Energy bills: Broadens the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program to give states more options on spending federal funds to help keep low-income people cool.

  • Wind energy: The Interior Department is proposing areas in the Gulf of Mexico for wind turbines. Biden wants to move ahead on wind energy development off the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Keep reading for more plans for climate change.

President Joe Biden speaks about climate change and clean energy at Brayton Power Station, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in Somerset, Mass.
President Joe Biden speaks about climate change and clean energy at Brayton Power Station, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in Somerset, Mass.

Another scorching summer day

An unrelenting heat wave roasted the USA Wednesday, when alerts were in place in 28 states from California to New Hampshire. Forecast and the latest updates.

  • What's happening? Approximately 100 million people were under an excessive heat warning or heat advisory Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service said, and about 200 million Americans are forecast to see temperatures in the 90s or higher for the next three days.

  • How hot is it? Temperatures 5 to 15 degrees above average "are dominating the entire country," said Weather.com meteorologist Domenica Davis.

  • What's an excessive heat warning? It's a warning reserved for "the hottest days of the year and is issued when temperatures are expected to rise to dangerous levels," the weather service said.

Across the pond: After days of record-breaking heat, forecasters said relief is coming to the United Kingdom as temperatures dip and thunderstorms approach. England faced transportation disruptions Wednesday as the country recovered from heat-fueled fires. The latest on the U.K.'s weather.

A City of Yonkers worker clears dirt from a roadwork project in Yonkers, N.Y. during a sweltering afternoon July 20, 2022. The current heatwave will keep temperatures in the New York City region in the 90's through this coming weekend.
A City of Yonkers worker clears dirt from a roadwork project in Yonkers, N.Y. during a sweltering afternoon July 20, 2022. The current heatwave will keep temperatures in the New York City region in the 90's through this coming weekend.

🌤 It's hot, hot, hot here in Denver. What's the weather up to in your neck of the woods? Check your forecast here.

What everyone's talking about

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Ukraine's first lady addresses Congress

After meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday and President Joe Biden on Tuesday, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska addressed Congress on Wednesday. Zelenska thanked the United States for the billions of dollars committed since Russian troops rolled into Ukraine in February. "You help us and your help is very strong," Zelenska said. She pleaded for more weaponry to fend off the Russian military – "to not kill children in their strollers." The latest Ukraine updates.

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska addressed Congress on Wednesday, thanking the United States for the billions of dollars committed since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and calling for more weapons for her country's fight.
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska addressed Congress on Wednesday, thanking the United States for the billions of dollars committed since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and calling for more weapons for her country's fight.

Uvalde school board to vote on firing police chief

The Uvalde, Texas, schools superintendent recommended that district Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who was placed on leave last month, be fired for his role in the flawed response to the Robb Elementary School shooting, according to a school board meeting agenda made public Wednesday. Arredondo assumed the role of incident commander and failed to act quickly enough to stop the gunman inside a classroom where 19 children and two teachers were killed May 24, according to at least two assessments of the police response to the shooting. Keep reading.

Mourners pay their respects on May 27, 2022, at a memorial for the children and teachers killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022.
Mourners pay their respects on May 27, 2022, at a memorial for the children and teachers killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022.

Real quick

BA.5: Ever heard of it?

It's the new subvariant of omicron, and it dominates the summer wave of COVID-19 in the USA, making up nearly 80% of new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the most recent week, 29 states reported more cases than the week before, a USA TODAY analysis shows. Twenty states had more deaths than a week earlier. Here’s what you should know about BA.5.

Learn more:

  • When did BA.5 start? It was first detected in the USA at the end of April, experts said.

  • Variants and mutations: BA.5 is classified as an omicron variant but has mutations different from BA.1 and BA.2.

  • Can you get BA.5 twice? Experts say it's unlikely within the first month after infection.

A break from the news

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Laura L. Davis is an Audience Editor at USA TODAY. Send her an email at laura@usatoday.com or follow along with her adventures – and misadventures – on Twitter. Support quality journalism like this? Subscribe to USA TODAY here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's climate change executive actions, heat wave continues, Ukraine first lady addresses Congress. It's Wednesday's news.