President Joe Biden mocked President-elect Donald Trump during a tour of the Amazon rainforest on Sunday, saying ‘no one can reverse’ his green legacy.
Biden – along with his daughter Ashley and granddaughter Natalie – took a helicopter tour of the Amazon, before walking through part of the rainforest at the Museu da Amazônia in Manaus, Brazil.
Trump ran his campaign on ending fossil fuels and hired the CEO of a fracking company as secretary of the Department of Energy.
“It’s no secret that I’m leaving office in January,” Biden said in a brief statement to the press. ‘I will leave my successor and my country a solid foundation to build on if he chooses to do so.’
Biden said that while anyone seeks to ‘deny or delay’ the clean energy revolution ‘no one can reverse it.’
‘Not when many people, regardless of party or politics, benefit. Not when countries around the world are using the clean energy revolution to move forward,” the 81-year-old Democrat said.
“The question now is, which government is going to stand down and is going to take advantage of this enormous economic opportunity,” Biden added.
A senior administration official who briefed reporters on the trip said Biden could see the effects of the draft, deforestation and illegal logging during the tour.
President Joe Biden mocked President-elect Donald Trump during a tour of the Amazon rainforest on Sunday, saying ‘no one can reverse’ his green legacy.
President Joe Biden stands next to his daughter Ashley (left) and granddaughter Natalie (right) as they tour part of the Amazon rainforest Sunday in Manaus, Brazil
The official said the administration worked hard to finalize environmental regulations during the last two months of Biden’s tenure.
Much of what Biden has done could be undone by his successor, even if the new $50 million commitment is out. Other efforts have a level of bipartisan support.
As for Trump rolling it all out: ‘Maybe he’ll come here and see the forests and see the damage they’ve done from the drought and stuff and change his mind about climate change,’ the official said.
Biden’s own journey comes with a heavy carbon footprint.
An online calculator provides the cost of a short trip with a smaller 757 (Air Force One is a modified 747) 45 tons of C02.
According to the US Government’s Office of Science and Technical Information, the Blackhawk helicopter that the president sometimes uses for transportation emits 0.2-1.4 g/kg of particulate fuel, for the T700 engine, depending on the fuel.
The federation has conducted a report on gas and particle emissions when the aircraft is used in populated areas.
Multiple helicopters are used during the air tour.
Marine One can be seen flying over a deforested section of the Amazon rainforest Sunday in Brazil
President Joe Biden visits the Museu da Amazonia with his granddaughter Natalie Biden (right) while visiting the Amazon Rainforest in Manaus, Brazil before heading to Rio de Janeiro for the G20
Marine One can be seen flying over the Amazon River during President Joe Biden’s aerial tour of the region on Sunday
President Joe Biden (center right) arrives in Manaus, Brazil with his daughter Ashley (right) on Sunday
Marine One can be seen passing through a large ship in the Amazon River during an aerial tour Sunday
Biden cited the importance of preserving rainforests as a global carbon sink just days after leaders gathered for the annual COP20 climate change summit.
This year’s climate conference was held in Baku, Azerbaijan which produces fossil fuels.
The president said how Amazon is called ‘the lungs of the world.’
“But in my opinion, our forests and national wonders are the heart and soul of the world,” he said. ‘He united us, he inspired us, he made us proud of our country’s heritage.’
Biden highlighted how the Amazon rainforest took 15 million years to grow.
‘History is literally watching us now. So let’s preserve this sacred place for time and forever – for the benefit of all mankind,” he said.
The president later ignored questions about his decision to green-light Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons to Russia – as he refused to speak to the press during his trip to South America.
In this case, maracas were played loudly by local indigenous tour guides who showed the president and his family members.
Democrats haven’t answered questions from reporters since Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election to Trump — except to suggest they wanted to see TV cameras hit reporters in the head.
He asked if he thought he would get a Middle East ceasefire before January 20, when Trump takes over.
Biden’s stop in Manaus comes after he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Lima, Peru.
He will arrive Sunday night in Rio de Janeiro to attend the last G20 summit as US president.
Ahead of the rainforest tour, the White House released a fact sheet on Sunday detailing that the US has reached $11 billion in international climate funding, will announce N17 ovember is the ‘International Day of Conservation,’ providing $50 million for the Amazon Conservation Fund, and providing public and private investment of $10 billion for land restoration and ‘bioeconomy-related projects’ by 2030.
The contribution comes after the administration announced plans to contribute $500 million last year.
The trip was a swan song for Biden, who was underlined by breaking his usual routine by attending a dinner meeting at the beautiful Government Palace during APEC in Lima.
Then he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, hosted at the Chinese leader’s hotel in an upscale neighborhood, as part of what the White House described as a political turf rotation.
In Rio de Janeiro, Biden will stay in a hotel on the beach heavily guarded by the Brazilian military, with navy ships patrolling the city’s famous Copacabana beach.
He visited the annual meeting of the G20 leaders. He will be on the ground less than 48 hours before returning home to Washington.
Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva blasted ‘neoliberalism’ in remarks setting the tone for the event, as Biden and other increasingly weakened political leaders began to roll into town.
“Neoliberalism has undermined the economic and political inequalities that are now troubling democracy,” he said.
The initial schedule released by the White House has Biden launching an alliance against hunger and poverty in a city where beautiful beaches are surrounded by impoverished favelas.
He will also attend a reception for leaders at the last international conference, after decades of attending all global gatherings as a senator, vice president and president.
Later, he will have a ‘working lunch’ with Brazil’s president, before returning to Washington on Air Force One for the final two months of his term.
