To be quite clear, the Biden-Harris Build Back Better plan is serious, achievable, and will radically change the U.S. energy and climate path forward for the better. With that declarative truth done, on the eve of the last “debate” where climate is set to be a full 15 minute discussion, a moment of reflection on two framing issues from VP Biden and Senator (soon to be VP) Harris from the debate stage.
- Build Back Better & Green New Deal have a common ‘framework’ … with substantive policy and path differences
- A President can’t ban Fracking … but can do a lot to reduce its negative impacts in the near and long term.
The framework is strong, aligned
VP Biden was seemingly put on the defensive and appeared (to not deeply informed viewers) as to the Green New Deal and its relationship with Build Back Better. Rather than appearing to contradict himself, VP Biden might have made his comments in this way:
The climate crisis is real, it is serious, it is us, we can do something about it, and, we will be better off from acting. There is a core framework to my thinking and approach to addressing climate change:
First, we must respect science, listen to experts, and recognize facts. The situation is serious and requires serious, determined, and significant action to clean up our act to avoid utter catastrophe.
Second, we can do this. And, in doing so, we can improve national security, boost the economy, and create millions of good, well-paying jobs and careers for Americans. And, we can create jobs fast to help dig out of the economic crisis due to Trump’s mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic.
Third, we can do all of this while addressing some of the worst inequities in our country and righting injustices. And, while we will be addressing environmental injustice, we will improve life for all of us, all of the United States.
Those three points are the framework under which I and my team developed Build Back Better. The Green New Deal shares that framework. My framework is the Green New Deal’s framework. However, while we have parallel philosophies and have shared visions for the future, there are significant differences in details and policy prescriptions even as, honestly, I have learned from Green New Deal proponents.
For example, I know that we must act. We had developed a path forward to a clean power system by 2050. The Green New Deal, in contrast, called for this to occur in less than ten years. Working with the Sanders team, building on work done by Governor Inslee and Senator Warren, I — and my team — became convinced that the technology, economic benefits, and job creation warranted moving more aggressively to clean up American’s electricity sources. We can boost reliability, lower costs, and eliminate pollution by 2035 and, yes, Trump, we will keep the lights on, be able to watch the Super Bowl on TV, and power a stronger economy.
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Okay, this is a long-winded version of an ‘elevator speech’ making the honest case that Build Back Better and Green New Deal, when it comes to clean energy and climate action, have very much a shared framework even as there are many substantive differences between them as to policy prescriptions and pathways.
Fracking will inevitably decline and wither away
Senator Harris, in her debate, was emphatic in stating that President Biden “will not ban fracking” and repeated this elsewhere in tweets and speeches. This strong affirmation frustrated and angered many activists and environmentalists who wish to see a fracking ban and who understand that expanded (continued) fossil gas exploitation is a bridge to nowhere. Not seeking to parse the ‘why’ Senator Harris (VP Biden) see this affirmation as so critical, might not a slightly different path have made the point when a false definitive assertion is made that a President Biden would ban fracking. How about …
First, a President simply can’t ban fracking. Unlike Donald Trump, a President Biden will not try to do what he knows he cannot legally do.
Second, President Biden will stop issuing new leases for fracking on Federal lands. And, a Biden Administration will enforce and tighten regulations as to methane leakage and other fracking pollution. These measures will reduce fracking’s negative impact on communities and our society.
Third, as per Build Back Better, we are going to accelerate clean energy so that, with every passing day, fossil gas is less necessary to power our economy and thus fracking will be less needed. And, also as per Build Back Better, we are going to be very cognizant of workers and communities that rely on fracking. We will be making sure that there are real economic pathways forward within and from the clean economy for these workers and communities to thrive in the years and decades to come.
Again, not the shortest of elevator speeches but what seems to be a truthful statement as to Biden-Harris plan that is less rejecting of those who are passionately fighting for a prosperous, climate-friendly path forward for the United States.