Biden Is Better Than Trump On Climate And The Environment

In his Climate speech yesterday, Biden tore into Trump with two well-written questions: "If you give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised if we have more of America ablaze? If you give a climate denier four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised when more of America is underwater?" Nice! And Trump earned it!

Before he spoke, 170 environmental leaders, generally part of the Democratic Party establishment coalition urged their supporters to vote for Biden... rather than Howie Hawkins of the Green Party, someone who has no chance but who provides an alternative to backing the candidates of the two corrupt establishment parties-- one which has re-nominated a dangerous and criminal fascist and one which has nominated an unfit conservative, not as bad as Trump, of course, but still bad... and years behind your average Democrat on Climate policy.

The only national Climate group I trust is the Sunrise Movement. Their leaders aren't interested in being invited to Democratic Party cocktail parties or being buddies with Schumer or Pelosi. They're only interested in fixing the Climate Crisis. This is how they explain their strategy:

1- We support candidates who, if elected, would represent a significant break with the status quo.

2- We support politicians who will represent us, not the fossil fuel industry.

3- We have no permanent friends and no permanent enemies.

So different from the corrupted elites in the old fashioned environmental movement! Sunrise endorsed Bernie and I have no idea if they plan to endorse the lesser evil for November. I hope not; it will tarnish their brand. Their 16 current endorsements for House seats include 15 endorsed by Blue America:

• Audrey Denney (CA-01)
• Marie Newman (IL-03)
• Cori Bush (MO-01)
• Ilhan Omar (MN-05)
• Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)
• Mike Siegel (TX-10)
• Jamaal Bowman (NY-16)
• Julie Oliver (TX-25)
• Beth Doglio (WA-10)
• Cathy Kunkel (WV-02)
• Jon Hoadley (MI-06)
• Qasim Rashid (VA-01)
• AOC (NY-14)
• Mondaire Jones (NY-17)
• Ayanna Pressely (MA-07)

And their 3 Senate candidates-- Marquita Bradshaw (TN), Paul Jean Swearengin (WV) and Ed Markey (MA)-- are also Blue America's Senate candidates. I could care less who Sierra Club or League of Conservative Voters endorses; at this point, it's like caring who the DSCC or DCCC endorses.

Biden has emphasized that Trump "has no interest in meeting this moment. He’s already said he wanted to withhold aid to California, to punish the people of California. Because they didn’t vote for him. This is another crisis. Another crisis he won’t take responsibility for. The west is literally on fire." He also said that, as a nation, "We stand with families who have lost everything. The firefighters. The first responders, risking everything to save others... People are not just worried about raging fires. They’re worried about the air they breath, the damage to their lungs... this year alone nearly 5m acres have burned across 10 states. More acreage than the entire state of Connecticut... We have a choice. We can invest in our infrastructure, make it stronger, more resilient, improving the health of Americans and creating millions of good-paying jobs while at the same time tackling the root causes of climate change. Or we can continue down the path Donald Trump has us on. The path of indifference, costing tens of billions of dollars to rebuild, where the human cost, the lives, the livelihoods the homes and the communities destroyed are immeasurable... With every bout of nature’s fury caused by our own inaction on climate change, more Americans see and feel the devastation. Whether they’re in big cities, small towns, coastlines or farm towns. It’s happening everywhere. It’s happening now. It affects us all."

Audrey Denney, the progressive Democrat running for the northeast California congressional seat (CA-01) that Trump enabler Doug LaMalfa currently holds, told us this morning that "CAL-FIRE, natural resource managers, and fire scientists all agree. Climate change along with vegetation management issues are making our wildfires worse. We will continue to lose lives and property in our part of the world until we have leadership that believes in science and has the political courage to take action." And that's not either Trump nor LaMalfa.

Julie Oliver, enthusiastically endorsed by both Blue America and the Sunrise Movement, laid out an aggressive plan for dealing with Climate Change which Biden should adopt for the country. But he won't.

• Transition the United States to carbon-free, 100% renewable energy by 2035.
• Eliminate emissions from the power sector in the 10-15 year time frame we have left to address the climate crisis.
• Supercharge the economy through major investments in American industries and manufacturing, modernizing our infrastructure, skilled labor, and innovation in clean technology.
• Provide workforce development and training, labor protections, livable wages, and collective bargaining rights for all jobs in the transition away from fossil fuels.
• Create millions of good-paying new jobs through low-carbon emission generation technologies, solar and wind technologies, energy efficient goods manufacturing and installation, building construction and retrofits, environmental remediation, forestry, and agriculture.
• Ensure a just transition.
• Invest in renewable energy, efficiency, smart grid, energy storage, electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies and green infrastructure to reach our decarbonization goals.
• Democratize the clean energy economy by increasing community ownership of energy generation through more distributed systems and public cooperatives.
• Stop fossil fuel extraction on public lands.
• Hold big business civilly or criminally accountable for their current or historical pollution.
• Innovate and expand energy efficiency through new building, power, and industrial standards, technology, and retrofits.
• Remove lead service water lines and fix water infrastructure problems in America, and protect our watersheds and waterways.
• Restore the American landscape through reforestation, wetlands restoration, and expanded sustainable farming and soil practices.
• Work with front-line, indigenous, and low-income communities and communities of color to build resilience and ensure pollution-free communities and economic opportunity.
• Modernize mass transportation by scaling up charging infrastructure for zero emission passenger vehicles and transition away from fossil fuels in heavy duty vehicles, aviation, and rail, while innovating and scaling up the next generation of carbon-neutral fuels and biofuels.
• Support and pass HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.
• Ban offshore drilling in the Arctic and the ANWR, and prevent Kinder Morgan from seizing Hill Country land through eminent domain.
• Create incentives and standards to promote soil health for better food, water quality, and carbon storage.

Scientific American started publishing on August 28, 1845. That's 175 years ago, even before Biden was in the Senate. Today was the first time they ever endorsed a political candidate. "This year," wrote the editors, "we are compelled to do so. We do not do this lightly."

The evidence and the science show that Donald Trump has badly damaged the U.S. and its people-- because he rejects evidence and science. The most devastating example is his dishonest and inept response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which cost more than 190,000 Americans their lives by the middle of September. He has also attacked environmental protections, medical care, and the researchers and public science agencies that help this country prepare for its greatest challenges. That is why we urge you to vote for Joe Biden, who is offering fact-based plans to protect our health, our economy and the environment. These and other proposals he has put forth can set the country back on course for a safer, more prosperous and more equitable future.

The pandemic would strain any nation and system, but Trump's rejection of evidence and public health measures have been catastrophic in the U.S. He was warned many times in January and February about the onrushing disease, yet he did not develop a national strategy to provide protective equipment, coronavirus testing or clear health guidelines. Testing people for the virus, and tracing those they may have infected, is how countries in Europe and Asia have gained control over their outbreaks, saved lives, and successfully reopened businesses and schools. But in the U.S., Trump claimed, falsely, that “anybody that wants a test can get a test.” That was untrue in March and remained untrue through the summer. Trump opposed $25 billion for increased testing and tracing that was in a pandemic relief bill as late as July. These lapses accelerated the spread of disease through the country-- particularly in highly vulnerable communities that include people of color, where deaths climbed disproportionately to those in the rest of the population.

It wasn't just a testing problem: if almost everyone in the U.S. wore masks in public, it could save about 66,000 lives by the beginning of December, according to projections from the University of Washington School of Medicine. Such a strategy would hurt no one. It would close no business. It would cost next to nothing. But Trump and his vice president flouted local mask rules, making it a point not to wear masks themselves in public appearances. Trump has openly supported people who ignored governors in Michigan and California and elsewhere as they tried to impose social distancing and restrict public activities to control the virus. He encouraged governors in Florida, Arizona and Texas who resisted these public health measures, saying in April-- again, falsely-- that “the worst days of the pandemic are behind us” and ignoring infectious disease experts who warned at the time of a dangerous rebound if safety measures were loosened.

And of course, the rebound came, with cases across the nation rising by 46 percent and deaths increasing by 21 percent in June. The states that followed Trump's misguidance posted new daily highs and higher percentages of positive tests than those that did not. By early July several hospitals in Texas were full of COVID-19 patients. States had to close up again, at tremendous economic cost. About 31 percent of workers were laid off a second time, following the giant wave of unemployment-- more than 30 million people and countless shuttered businesses-- that had already decimated the country. At every stage, Trump has rejected the unmistakable lesson that controlling the disease, not downplaying it, is the path to economic reopening and recovery.

Trump repeatedly lied to the public about the deadly threat of the disease, saying it was not a serious concern and “this is like a flu” when he knew it was more lethal and highly transmissible, according to his taped statements to journalist Bob Woodward. His lies encouraged people to engage in risky behavior, spreading the virus further, and have driven wedges between Americans who take the threat seriously and those who believe Trump's falsehoods. The White House even produced a memo attacking the expertise of the nation's leading infectious disease physician, Anthony Fauci, in a despicable attempt to sow further distrust.

Trump's reaction to America's worst public health crisis in a century has been to say “I don't take responsibility at all.” Instead he blamed other countries and his White House predecessor, who left office three years before the pandemic began.

But Trump's refusal to look at the evidence and act accordingly extends beyond the virus. He has repeatedly tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act while offering no alternative; comprehensive medical insurance is essential to reduce illness. Trump has proposed billion-dollar cuts to the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, agencies that increase our scientific knowledge and strengthen us for future challenges. Congress has countermanded his reductions. Yet he keeps trying, slashing programs that would ready us for future pandemics and withdrawing from the World Health Organization. These and other actions increase the risk that new diseases will surprise and devastate us again.

...Biden is getting advice on these public health issues from a group that includes David Kessler, epidemiologist, pediatrician and former U.S. Food and Drug Administration chief; Rebecca Katz, immunologist and global health security specialist at Georgetown University; and Ezekiel Emanuel, bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania. It does not include physicians who believe in aliens and debunked virus therapies, one of whom Trump has called “very respected” and “spectacular.”

Biden has a family and caregiving initiative, recognizing this as key to a sustained public health and economic recovery. His plans include increased salaries for child care workers and construction of new facilities for children because the inability to afford quality care keeps workers out of the economy and places enormous strains on families.

On the environment and climate change, Biden wants to spend $2 trillion on an emissions-free power sector by 2035, build energy-efficient structures and vehicles, push solar and wind power, establish research agencies to develop safe nuclear power and carbon capture technologies, and more. The investment will produce two million jobs for U.S. workers, his campaign claims, and the climate plan will be partly paid by eliminating Trump's corporate tax cuts. Historically disadvantaged communities in the U.S. will receive 40 percent of these energy and infrastructure benefits.

It is not certain how many of these and his other ambitions Biden will be able to accomplish; much depends on laws to be written and passed by Congress. But he is acutely aware that we must heed the abundant research showing ways to recover from our present crises and successfully cope with future challenges.

Although Trump and his allies have tried to create obstacles that prevent people from casting ballots safely in November, either by mail or in person, it is crucial that we surmount them and vote. It's time to move Trump out and elect Biden, who has a record of following the data and being guided by science.

And, yes, Albert Einstein used to write for the magazine.