Biden to announce climate investments amid campaign fundraisers

As part of a series of reelection campaign fundraisers set for the upcoming week, President Joe Biden was set to announce major climate investments on Monday, June 19. The announcement was set to happen during a visit to Palo Alto.

The investments, expected to top $600 million, are meant to help coastal communities fight climate change. $575 million of that will go a project aimed at fighting rising sea levels, storm surge and tidal hurricanes.

$67 million will go to California in order to modernize its electric grid. The goal of this investment is to reduce the impact of extreme weather events like wildfires.

The climate investments announcement was set to come ahead of a ramping up of fundraisers in support of President Biden’s reelection campaign. During the week of June 18, the Biden campaign is set to hold four fundraisers in the San Francisco area.

In the back half of June, Biden’s campaign will have over 20 fundraisers involving the president, Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff. More than half of the fundraisers are with the president, who will also be traveling to New York, Maryland and Illinois.

The fundraising blitz comes after Biden held the first rally of his reelection campaign in Philadelphia on Saturday, June 17. Speaking in front of a crowd of union members, Biden said he was “proud to be the most pro-union president in American history.”

“It’s time for everyone, I mean, everyone, no matter how rich or powerful they are, to start paying their fair share. You’ve carried the country on your back. You’ve carried long enough,” Biden said. “It’s time for millionaires and billionaires and big corporations to pay their fair share. I can get that done. But I need you badly.”

Biden, unlike former President Donald Trump and other 2024 GOP contenders, has not revealed any clues about his fundraising haul since declaring his candidacy in April. Biden’s campaign finance report in July will provide the first test of Democratic donor enthusiasm for his reelection effort.