Joe Biden's climate plan might be a beacon of long-overdue American climate leadership. But there's more you need to know to make that happen.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Let's break down Biden campaign's climate plan, which includes a set of initiatives that's going to tackle climate change for the next four years. We were initially going to include an impartial look at both candidates' takes on the matter, but...only Biden has a take, really. We guess it's technically still impartial.
Here's what we'll cover step-by-step:
A quick note about before we start— We don't believe news can truly ever be "neutral," We do, however, curate the content in these Action Packs without creating or finding facts of our own, so we hope this will be an informative, "impartial" overview of the Biden climate plan: good, bad, and what we can do to continue holding the campaign accountable - especially if Biden is elected and the plan becomes reality.
(Editor's Note: This Action Pack was written before the 2020 Presidential Election.)
🎯 Action step 1 of 4: READ — Let's start by looking at a few articles together.
Here, we'll lay out some positives of the $2 trillion (yes, TRILLION) climate plan, what it's missing, and who's involved. We'll let you decide on your own if it's #MoMoneyMoProblemz or if the plan will get us where we need to be.
First, a random fact: "Climate" is mentioned only 28 times and "jobs" is mentioned 53 times. Joe's trying to position this as more of a jobs bill than a climate bill. He's actually linking economic recovery from COVID times to fighting climate change. Let's hope it works and creates a win-win!
Rolling Stone gives a pretty good overview of the plan and its drawbacks.
Also bad—Joe's climate advisors apparently love fossil fuels? We'll let you read this article from The Intercept. Some of Joe Biden's climate advisors embrace fossil fuels and fracking. The $2T commitment is great, but when it comes down to it, the administration is going to need someone to hold it accountable. Biden's advisors may not be up to the task.
But we (*gestures at readers*) are!
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 1 of 4: READ.
🎯 Action step 2 of 4: LISTEN — we'll watch a short video or listen to a podcast to further expand on our topic.
You might recall that we're not climate wonks; We're just a team of wonky millennials trying to understand how we can do our part to fight climate change. So today, we're doing a little climate #throwback. We're going to talk about the Green New Deal.
The 4-minute video below explains the basics of GND economic spending. It's critical that all of us as voters understand what we're getting into—politically, economically, and socially. GND basics are important as a framework, because although he hasn't actually said it, Biden's climate plan has a lot in common with the GND.
Rhiana Gunn-Wright, the policy lead for the Green New Deal, debunks the notion that it will cost taxpayers $93 trillion. We highly recommend you watch the full video here. It'll give you some ammunition to talk to folks who think climate investment is too expensive.
You'll learn that:
After watching the 4-minute video, you'll be prepared to tell your friendly neighborhood fiscal conservative that spending money on green infrastructure saves money, grows the economy, and will in fact be one of the main drivers of the global economy. If you're craving more, here's a 3-min video by Grist that goes into some more detail about what the GND contains.
P.S.—We highly recommend refreshing your knowledge on the original New Deal and some of its biggest wins and pitfalls.
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 2 of 4: LISTEN.
🎯 Action step 3 of 4: ACT — Now it's time to do something. Let's go!
Previously, we highlight how complex any climate plan is bound to be. Overall, though, this plan is ambitious, but will it actually be implemented if we have a Biden Administration? We need to hold politicians accountable on a national and local level.
These actions are simple but they mean a lot. Please do at least one:
It's a political action group for young people (sub-35) who care about the environment. You can attend trainings, phone bank, and organize your community. The Sunrise Movement was a key player in pushing for Joe Biden's climate plan—proof that organizing your community works.
2. Vote... on local legislation.
State and local policies are critical to national climate leadership. You can click on the map to learn more about why, but if you're a policy nerd and you want to understand what states are actually doing, read this. If you live in California and want some guidance on how to vote, here's an Environmental Justice Voter Guide for 2020.
We also recommend you bookmark Govtrack, which keeps track of bills that go through Congress.
3. Be in touch with your politicians.
You can find your elected officials in many places; Ballotpedia is likely a good place, though, because then you can find local legislation too.
Also, idea for anyone looking for a tech side project—build a politician promise tracker. All over the internet, people are giving advice like "reference your politicians' promises," but we can't find a single tool that looks helpful... other than in Kyrgyzstan.
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 3 of 4: ACT.
Before we go any further, it's time for you to pledge your commitment. It takes less than 30 seconds to pledge and we can bother you about it in a friendly way, so we can hold each other accountable. Pledge here!
🎯 Action step 4 of 4: REFLECT — what can you commit to? What fresh perspectives can we look at?
In light of Biden's agenda, how are climate deniers feeling about climate change?
Megan Brown is a registered Republican and rancher who lives in Butte County, a conservative area of Northern California that was decimated by the 2018 Camp Fire. Our founder, Nivi, was actually up there in 2018 during the fires. It was mind-boggling for her to meet people who had lost everything, yet still refused to believe in human-made climate change.
Here's three highlights from an interview between Megan and Slate. You can find the full interview here. We hope this helps some of you find a silver lining as we navigate politicization of crises!
Q: On denying climate change: When you were a climate change denier, how did you see what was happening in the world? I’m curious about your path, because I don’t know that I’ve ever talked to anyone who’s changed their mind about climate change.
A: "I assumed the Earth is probably always changing and heating up and cooling and that’s normal. And then, more science was presented. The fires happened. I had to take a moment, take a deep breath, go to people that were smarter than me and listen to the science and listen to them. I’m a firm believer now."
Q: On being unable to use the right words: So what do you say instead of climate change?
A: "You just blame it on each thing. It’s like, oh, the fires, oh, the grasshoppers. I’m hoping they’re going to start connecting the dots in their own head and then, in a year or two, I can use the term climate change. But we’ll see."
Q: On success: What would success look like when talking to these politicians, and what are you hoping they’ll propose?
A: "I’m not really asking for much right now. I’m just asking them to acknowledge it’s a thing that’s happening. If I could get that, I think that’d be just a great starting point: Man-made climate change exists."
Again, you can read the full article here.
Despite the good and the bad of Joe Biden's climate plan, it's important for us to keep holding politicians accountable for their promises and actions.
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 4 of 4: REFLECT.
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