If there is anything you can say about the 2020 election, it definitely is not straightforward. For the past few months, presidential candidates President Donald J. Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have endlessly debated topics that, although particularly important at the moment, are likely to continue to have significance for the foreseeable future: the COVID pandemic, institutionalized racism, and massive unemployment. However, one topic in particular that is important and needs more emphasis is climate change. According to a report recently published by Pew Research Center, only 42% of registered voters see climate change as “very important” for their vote. When breaking down that 42% into Trump supporters and Biden supporters, 68% of Biden supporters deemed climate change to be “very important,” while only 11% of Trump supporters thought the same. In September, a group of artists, activists, and scientists unveiled climate clocks around the world, with one in New York City, in order to show that there is only a little over seven years left until climate change is irreversible. With these clocks appearing just before the election, it is imperative that voters understand the candidates’ stances on climate change and what to expect in regards to how prepared the nation will be once the countdown hits zero.
To understand Biden’s plan for combating climate change, we first need to understand the Green New Deal. In February of 2019, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey introduced the Green New Deal to Congress. The main goal of the deal was to “bring U.S. greenhouse gas emissions down to net-zero and meet 100% of power demand in the country through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources by 2030.” The deal prompted strong reactions from both Democrats and Republicans. While the majority of Democrats were all for the plan, many Republicans denounced the idea altogether, calling it radical and socialist. The Green New Deal has left such an impact that a year later it was featured prominently in questions directed at candidates throughout the Democratic primary. Most notably, Biden initially implied he was on board for the Green New Deal. On his website, it described the deal as “a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face.” However, during the first presidential debate on Sept. 29th, Biden changed his tune and stated that “The Green New Deal is not my [Biden’s] plan” and that “I don’t support the Green New Deal.” While this was a great disappointment for environmental activists, this may have been a debate tactic right before the election to distance himself from the stigma that surrounds socialist politics in the United States, an agenda that Trump and the Republican party have pushed for the past four years.
But, Biden’s rhetorical choice, of explicitly distancing himself from the Green New Deal, could cause confusion for undecided voters since Biden is seemingly changing his stance. But in retrospect, Biden does have a plan. Back in July, Biden created his own plan titled, Build Back Better. Although the plan is not as ambitious as the Green New Deal, it is still a strong and aggressive course of action. The plan says its objective is “creating the jobs we need to build a modern, sustainable infrastructure now and deliver an equitable clean energy future.” The plan proposes a $2 trillion investment in order to provide resources in all aspects of society: infrastructure, transit, housing, innovation, agriculture and conservation, and more.
For Trump, his unyielding fight against climate science and environmental policies for the past four years makes it clear that for him climate change is not a concern. Just two months after his inauguration, Trump signed an order to reverse environmental policies that were issued during the Obama-era. According to The New York Times, Trump has attempted to roll back a total of 99 policies. As of Oct. 29th, 72 policies have successfully been rolled back while 27 are in-progress. This decision puts a dark cloud over the hope of taking climate change seriously. As if it couldn’t get any worse, in June of 2017, Trump took the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement. This agreement (signed by 197 countries) was a global pledge to delay the effects of global warming by keeping the temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius. One of the reasons that Trump outlined in his speech for leaving was because he believed that the agreement “would only produce two-tenths of one degree,” calling it a “tiny amount.” Trump’s choice of words downplays the danger of climate change, a running theme of his administration for the past four years.
Another example of Trump’s dismissal of climate change is his response to the heartbreaking wildfires in California that erupted back in September 2020. Trump repeatedly blamed California officials for their lack of forest management. Even though forest management is a portion of the problem, climate change is a huge factor that Trump fails to admit. When meeting with Governor Newsom of California on Sept. 14th, Trump once again downplayed science, and when Wade Crowfoot (head of California’s Natural Resources Agency) responded to Trump’s belief, that California will get cooler in the future, with “I don’t think science agrees with you,” Trump responded with “I don’t think science knows, actually.”
When looking at a possible four more years of Trump, it seems that there will be no improvements in regards to combating climate change. Throughout the debates, Trump has consistently denied the science behind climate change, and instead brought up his One Trillion Trees Initiative. This executive order aims to “promote healthy and resilient forests and rangelands.” However, not once does this executive order mention climate change or climate science. Besides the fact that this executive order was passed less than a month before election day, the idea as a whole may suggest Trump intended to use this initiative as a diversion in the debates when asked about climate change.
Although both candidates are not doing enough when it comes to creating a promising foundation for a sustainable future, it is abundantly clear that Biden would be the lesser of two evils. Therefore, in order to use the next four years to create environmental justice, it is important for people to keep being politically-active even after the results of the election. No matter who the next president is, the fight for environmental justice is not going to go away any time soon. There are many opportunities for people (especially young people) to take action for the health of the climate. For one, doing your own research about climate change and environmental policy is a perfect way to get started. To take it even further, you could push yourself to educate other people on the importance of environmental justice, especially people with political views different from your own. Another option that is often overlooked is getting involved in your local government. By becoming involved in your community, you can push for environmental change on a local level. Overall, if we don’t want the next seven years to be wasted on inaction, now is the time to be the change we want to see.•
