Here’s a brief overview of several ballot measures illustrating how cities are moving at a rapid pace creating new funding to support local clean energy, and that clean energy has a much broader appeal than either political party.
If we want clean energy to succeed in the upcoming Biden Administration, we have to (a) be realistic, and (b) fight like hell to keep him focused on it as much as possible. Political capital is scarce and the threats to our future from climate change are real, so allowing the various Democratic lobbies to suck all of the oxygen out of the room is not an option.
Throughout this year’s U.S. presidential election, I’ve seen the same thing happen over and over. First, we assume a norm of past elections will hold. Then, we hear rumors that Trump will not follow that norm, but assume it’s too extreme and that it’s either a false rumor or, if he said it, that he will chicken out.
A Trump win would be a loss for America, and not just for our environment. America has become a world leader, and was solidly so in the 20th century, but today, it has already taken several steps backward.
The climate action report card is much better for Obama/Biden and Biden/Harris than for Trump/Pence, which is unsurprising given President Trump’s rhetoric on the subject. The Obama/Biden administration could have done much more, and while a Biden/Harris administration would be much stronger on climate change action than the Trump Administration, it too has more work to do to get to a truly effective climate action plan.
Will the Republicans realize that 60 years of leaning into irrational wedges with racism in the 60s, misogyny in the 70s, Creationism and anti-abortion in the 80s, propaganda in the 90s, climate change denialism in the 00s and anti-vaxx in the 10s is a losing proposition, and pivot into the 21st Century, or will they double down on being the party of the aggrieved and irrational?
Biden’s new climate plan is okay on transportation (less good than his previous plan), decent on electrical generation (much better than his previous plan), meh on everything else. And he’s downgraded the foreign policy elements that were most interesting.
Even if the U.S. is successful at managing coronavirus infection rates and lethality, it has the capacity to wreak havoc on the November election.
In the second half of this episode of our CleanTech Talk podcast interview series, Zach Shahan continues his discussion with Michael Barnard, Chief Strategist of TFIE Strategy Inc. and CleanTechnica contributor, about the climate action plans (and other political matters) of current presidential candidates. This second part of a two-part series spends a lot of time discussing Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, and the evolution (or devolution) in the Democratic Party and Republican Party.
In this episode of our CleanTech Talk podcast interview series, Zach Shahan sits down again with Michael Barnard, Chief Strategist of TFIE Strategy Inc. and CleanTechnica contributor, to talk about the climate action plans of current presidential candidates. This first part of a two-part series spends a lot of time discussing the Kamala Harris campaign (RIP) and Mike Bloomberg’s unique entry and position.
