VP Mike Pence On Biden: “Biden Would Destroy Our Fossil Fuel Industry”

Photo by Justin Stumberg/U.S. Navy.

Vice President Mike Pence has made it very clear that the Trump administration is in favor of the fossil fuel industry. Hailing it as a job creator and painting it as a good thing, he uses Biden’s approach to clean energy to paint Biden as a destroyer of jobs — even though clean energy has created far more jobs than fossil fuels in the past few years, and certainly the past decade. Pence recently made a speech at Ripon College, and in his speech on the “Dangers of Socialism,” he said:

“Joe Biden would destroy our fossil fuel industry, return to the war on coal, prevent the development of America’s immense energy reserves, and impose a regime of climate change regulations on literally every new building in the United States — every home, every business — that would drastically increase the cost of living for families — and the cost of business, at the cost of jobs.” 

.@VP @Mike_Pence: "Joe Biden would destroy our fossil fuel industry." pic.twitter.com/3t6h2HZiiY

— The Hill (@thehill) July 18, 2020

He also bragged that President Trump was the one who pulled us from the “job-killing Paris Climate Accord,” and said that he saved thousands of American jobs.

What wasn’t mentioned was the 22 million Americans lost their jobs recently or the fact that, right now, many Americans are being put out on the streets because they are about to lose their unemployment — that news came from a few people I know who are going through that. One of my friends told me that their job closed permanently and their unemployment ran out even though she had worked at that job for 29 years. She is now facing eviction.

The Trump Administration Puts More Value On The Fossil Fuel Industry Than It Does The American People

In his pretty speech that hyped up the idea of jobs and “America first,” Pence made it seem like the fossil fuel industry, which is dying, will be our savior. If that is true, then we are definitely screwed. I don’t believe that is true, though. What I believe is that Trump and his team are “money first” (for themselves), not America first. And Trump’s loyalty isn’t with America, but fossil fuel industry supporters who have given him money.

Exhibit A. Taking Money From Taxpayers

Back in April, CleanTechnica shared how the fossil fuel industry is extracting money from American taxpayers. While we were all sheltering in place, polluting industries were pushing rollbacks on public safety measures, financial responsibilities, and government oversight. They were trying to see just how much they could get away with.

Exhibit B. Bailing Out The Oil Companies

President Trump suggested that the federal government pay U.S. fossil fuels to not produce anything. In other words, he just wanted to give them money for not drilling oil. That would be as crazy as CleanTechnica paying me to not write articles. Or going grocery shopping, giving the cashier money, but leaving empty-handed. These corporations that pollute cause deaths totaling in the hundreds of thousands — annually — right here in America. Instead of wanting to spend money on clean energy, Trump wants to bail out the oil company and pay them to just sit there and look pretty.

Exhibit C. Trump Prefers Profits Over Safety

In another piece that CleanTechnica covered back in March, we addressed how the Department of Interior blatantly ignored experts who opposed the issuing of a rule that rolled back safety measures for offshore oil rig workers. Not only has this happened before, but information has even been manipulated (they lied about it) to make sure profits trump the safety of oil rig workers.

The Trump Administration also canceled a National Academies of Sciences study that was planning to investigate ways to improve safety inspections of offshore rigs. The reason was that the agency it was intended for asked for the study to be conducted and then changed its mind. Along with this, here are other issues that were addressed in that article:

• Public comments were ignored by the Trump administration when it released a proposal for rolling back safety requirements.
• Deputy secretary Katharain MacGregor’s part in weakening safeguards that protect public health, worker safety, and the environment.
• Engineers’ safety concerns were ignored by Scott Angelle, the lead of the DOI’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Angelle ordered the engineers to toss the opposition language in the garbage. Worker Safety rollbacks were issued.

You can read the full article here.

Exhibit D. Trump’s EPA Tells State & Native Tribes That They No Longer Have The Right To Protect Their Own Water.

This is the complete opposite of what the EPA is supposed to do — it is supposed to protect the environment, not protect those trashing it. This rule limited the authority that both states and Indigenous tribes have to protect their water from federally authorized destructive projects. These projects include oil and gas pipelines, for example. Now they have to get permission — very limited permission — from Trump to protect their water.

Exhibit E. Trump Guts Auto Emission Standards.

In a tweet, President Trump said that American families would be able to buy safer, affordable, and environmentally friendly cars with a new rule. This rule, however, ensures that these cars are not environmentally friendly — and less safe than they would have been. Allowing higher exhaust emissions will add a billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This isn’t safe at all. The idea Trump is proposing is that emissions controls cost money. Rollback controls save money. Again, it’s about money.

Clean Energy is Winning, But Pence is Ignoring That

“Joe Biden wants to join the Paris Climate Accord again, placing a crushing weight on the American businesses and the American economy,” Pence said in his speech. That’s simply not true. Working toward the agreement would boost jobs and make the American economy more competitive globally.

Even with the Trump administration favoring fossil fuels, several clean energy solutions are actually on the rise. Just last week a recent study showed that solar is kicking coal out of Texas. Solar isn’t alone in this — it has had strong help from wind power. And in 2022, coal is projected to be “not needed anymore.”

Final 2.5¢

Trump’s administration has stabbed the American people in the back so much that it’s run out of room and is working its way down our legs to our feet. This administration that boasted “America First” while banning Muslims and promoting hate is really putting America not even last — America isn’t even considered when Trump makes his preference of personal and crony profits over America clear.

During the pandemic, he had every chance to unite this country. Instead, he politicized wearing masks and called the coronavirus a hoax many times. Sure, the debate is open about whether or not this virus is as deadly here as it was in other places, and what the best policies are to protect Americans while protecting the economy, but these are opinions. There is no need to deny facts and common sense. Instead of hyping up one side and mocking people for wanting to utilize their rights for public health, Trump made it all about him.

I finally deleted my Facebook account. The main reason I kept it was to stay in contact with friends and family, but I made a comment about wearing masks — I said that if you are against wearing a mask, that’s fine, but stay away from me. I don’t want to catch COVID-19 (unless that actually was it that I had back in the spring).

I discovered that many friends who I’ve known for 10–12 years have devolved. I was called a snowflake, told to leave America if I didn’t like Trump, and told that I needed to have faith in my healing crystals and that if I got COVID-19, my faith in God was weak.

I may be into healing crystals, but minerals aren’t going to stop a virus. Sure, we eat foods rich in vitamins and minerals for our health, but come on — have some common sense. The crazy thing was that the people who told me that were on both the left and the right — some people on both sides have been against wearing face masks because they believe that the whole thing is a hoax, an infringement upon our rights, or that we should have faith in God — or that Bill Gates wants to control us through the 666 microchip implantation device in the new vaccine. Yes, those are things I’ve been told. As for the mark of the beast, the joke’s on them: we already have it. Anything with the element Carbon-12 does. Carbon-12 has 6 neutrons, 6 protons, and 6 electrons.

In regards to Trump, he could have used his position of power to unite this country and perhaps be one of the greatest presidents in history. Instead, he placed his value upon oil and profits over the lives of the American people, among other things.