Biden Puts Climate Change at the Top Among Major Issues

August 18, 2020

Democrats were hopeful the 2020 presidential election would focus around climate change, and though the coronavirus halted the momentum by crippling the U.S. economy, it remains a top priority to the left in the upcoming election.

President Trump and Joe Biden have radically different ideas on climate policy and environmental issues. While President Trump has vowed to protect the vital oil and gas industry, presumptive Democratic nominee Biden has become more ambitious over the course of his campaign to tackle climate change.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Biden has made tackling climate change a centerpiece of his campaign, proposing to invest $2 trillion in a massive green jobs program to build renewable energy infrastructure.

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His plan calls for ending the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity by 2035. By no later than 2050, he would bring the country to net zero emissions of greenhouse gases under the plan.

Biden’s proposal surprised climate advocates with its ambition. It is significantly more aggressive than plans he put forward during the Democratic primary and incorporates policy ideas, such as investing in disadvantaged communities, that appeal to the liberal wing of the party and climate voters who were skeptical of him.

At the same time, Biden has tried to quiet fears from Democrats in Pennsylvania by assuring them that fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, will continue. His position remains that he would not allow new fracking on public lands.

Biden has inched further left over the course of his campaign in hopes to appeal to the climate activists within his party. Naming Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, who said there was “no question” she’d ban hydraulic fracturing, only confirm the fears from the oil and gas industry. 

President Trump said in a Rose Garden speech last month, “The core of [Biden’s] economic agenda is a hard-left crusade against American energy.” Biden’s actions have only confirmed this and his direction toward dismantling the industry.