What does it all mean!? There's been so much confusion over the Green New Deal vs. Biden's Climate Plan. In the simplest terms, both plans are frameworks for how to push America to rapidly transition to a green economy. They do not provide specific laws & policies, but talk about high level goals. Let's break down Biden's plan into 5 main goals.
5 Main Goals:
1. 100% Clean Energy Economy & Net Zero Emissions No Later than 2050.
- Invest in clean energy, climate research, & innovation.
- Prioritize energy infrastructure, buildings, water, & transportation that can withstand the impacts of climate change.
2. Establish an Enforcement Mechanism that Includes Milestone Targets in 2025.
- Incentivize the rapid deployment of clean energy innovations across the economy, especially in communities most impacted by climate change.
- Develop regional climate resilience plans.
- This goal is highly vague and left open. Climate activists demand greater accountability for Biden's actions. What exactly is the enforcement mechanism? We're don't 100% understand.
3. Rally the Rest of the World to Address the Urgent Climate Threat
- Leading by Example: Recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement.
- Lead an effort to get every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate targets.
- Make global targets more transparent and enforceable.
- Fully integrate climate change into our foreign policy and national security strategies, as well as our approach to trade.
4. Stand up to the Abuse of Power by Polluters who Disproportionately Harm Communities of Color & Low-Income Communities.
- Take action against fossil fuel companies who:
- Put profit over people.
- Knowingly harm our environment.
- Poison our communities’ air, land, and water.
- Conceal information regarding potential environmental and health risks.
- Ensure that the development of solutions is an inclusive, community-driven process.
- Communities of color and low income communities will be the focus/other vulnerable communities.
- Leave no workers or communities behind.
5. Fulfill Our Obligation to Workers and Communities Who Powered Our Industrial Revolution and Decades of Economic Growth.
- Basically this means to help transition people who worked in coal, fracking, or gas to clean energy jobs.
- Biden will commit our country to fulfilling our obligation to all workers impacted by the energy transition, like coal miners and power plant workers and their communities.
- Biden for President will not accept contributions from oil, gas and coal corporations or executives.
- Honestly, this seems like a questionable notion consideration Biden's contribution history. Only the receipts will tell all.
Our Summary:
For a lifelong establishment democrat, Biden's plan is very progressive, but as always there is room for improvement. The plan is a great framework and captures many of the goals of the environmental movement, but fails to appropriately address the concerns of impacted communities.
Open questions we have:
- What are the Biden's policies and actionable steps?
- How will Biden be held accountable for his promises in this plan?
- What enforcement mechanism does Biden plan to unveil?
- How will we reach net zero emissions if we continue fracking and ignoring environmental experts?
If you have any feedback or questions, reach out to us at hello@grouphugsolar.com. If you want to keep learning, check out the links below for more info.
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Official Sources For Biden's Climate Plan:
Website: https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/
Video Explanation: https://youtu.be/Ku7uZ0Gok2g
Further Reading on the Pro's of Biden's Climate Plan:
Articles/Background:
Biden Announces $2 Trillion Climate Plan
Climate crisis or ‘hoax’: Where Trump and Biden stand on environmental policy
10 highlights of Joe Biden’s ambitious Climate Plan
Summaries:
Breakdown of Biden’s Climate Plan
5 Ways Climate Change Affects Americans
Biden Defends GND, tackles WOTUS
Trump v. Biden -a cheat sheet-
#Voteforbidenharris = a vote for the planet + people 🗳🌎✊🏽✨
Endorsements:
Sierra Club Statement on Biden- Harris 2020
More on the Con's of Biden's Climate Plan:
Articles:
Sunrise Movement Pushes Joe Biden to get greener on climate-change
Sunrise Movement co-founder: "Joe Biden's plan isn't everything, but it's something"
The Activist Trying to Bend the U.S. Congress Toward Climate
Sunrise Movement Pushes Joe Biden To Get Greener On Climate Change