Climate change to be 'early part' of Democrats' 2021 agenda

Washington: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged that major climate change legislation would be an "early part" of the Democrats 2021 agenda if the party wins the November 3 presidential election, it was reported.

"So when Joe Biden says, 'build back better', that better includes building back in a way that is resilient, that is green, that protects the planet," The Hill news website quoted Pelosi as saying to reporters in the Capitol on Thursday.

"So I don't know if it's one bill or it permeates a number of bills, but it is absolutely a priority."

Pelosi specifically singled out the Climate Action Now legislation, passed by the House in May, which would recommit the US to the Paris Agreement on climate change.

She pointed to the Democrats' "Moving Forward" green infrastructure package, which would require states to account for climate change before undertaking projects and meet certain greenhouse gas emission goals when they accept funding.

The veteran Democrat also highlighted a report by the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis that her party's lawmakers and scientists see as a "road map" for fighting climate change.

Pelosi's remarks came as raging wildfires in California have scorched a record 3.1 million acres of land in the state since August.

The previous record of 1.9 million acres was set in 2018, reports Xinhua news agency.

So far, 12 fatalities and over 3,900 structures were destroyed in the fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in a daily update on Thursday.

It has also burned old growth redwoods, charred chaparral and forced evacuations in communities near the coast, in wine country and along the Sierra Nevada,

Approximately 14,000 firefighters remain on the line of 29 major wildfires burning across the state.

The August Complex Fire, a combination of 37 fires sparked by lightning on August 17 in Mendocino National Forest in Northern California, is now the largest blaze in the state's history.

Besides California, wildfires are currently raging in nine other western states, including Washington and Oregon.