By Kelsey Ott
The biggest threat facing our world today is climate change. Our current administration does not acknowledge the issue at all, despite countless studies and warnings from scientists and environmentalists worldwide. Trump’s statements on climate change are extremely vague and contradictory. Trump signed an advertisement in 2009 with the New York Times that called for legislation to address climate change (BBC.com), but since his becoming president, he has failed to make any serious statements regarding the issue, and stated in 2012 that it was “created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive”—which is obviously incorrect. Senator Bernie Sanders had focused much of his campaign on raising awareness and educating the public on the seriousness of climate change. While both Sanders and Biden support a “Green New Deal,” it is interesting to compare the differences in the plans. Both plans begin with the point of transitioning to a clean economy that does not rely on fossil fuels as a source of energy. In fact, Biden’s proposal is to “ensure that the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050” (Biden.com). His proposal for climate justice “will make a federal investment of $1.7 trillion over the next ten years, leveraging additional private sector and state and local investments to total to more than $5 trillion” (Biden.com). Biden would achieve this by putting limits on methane pollution, using the annual $500 billion used by the Federal government procurement system to strive toward clean energy, and making agriculture part of the solution.
Comparing the federal investment of his green new deal to Sanders’ deal is very interesting. Both plans would be executed over 10 years, but Sanders’ green new deal would “directly invest an historic $16.3 trillion public investment toward these efforts, in line with mobilization of resources made during the New Deal and WWII” (Berniesanders.com). Sanders explains that “Economists estimate that if we do not take action, we will lose $34.5 trillion in economic activity by the end of the century.” Sanders’ proposal for shifting the economy to a clean energy economy has a significantly higher federal investment than Biden’s. Both Sanders’ and Biden’s proposals go into detail on how transportation, industry pollution, and overall infrastructure will be shifted from its dependency on fossil fuels.
The difference in investment is significant, and it begs the question of how much it will actually cost to make the economy a clean energy economy. The cost of shifting to clean-air vehicles, increasing the usage of public transportation (as well as implementing electric transportation) and investing money into more climate change research will indeed cost a lot of money. If Sanders’ assertion that we will lose $34.5 trillion in economic activity if we do not begin to plan for the future is correct, then an investment in climate change now is obviously imperative. As for Trump, he stated in a CBS interview in 2018 that, “I don’t think there’s a hoax. I do think there’s probably a difference. But I don’t know that it’s man-made … I don’t wanna give trillions and trillions of dollars” (BBC.com). He has since become more serious about this issue, stating in 2020 that he “wants the cleanest air” and the “cleanest water” but the president has failed on proposing any kind of solution or promise of an investment in climate change action.
The time to take action against climate change is now. It is essential to our future and for the health of future generations. Our planet’s ecosystems are in grave danger of vanishing completely if we neglect the issues we are facing from dependency on fossil fuels. Ensuring preparedness for the future of dramatic and extreme climate changes (floods, hurricanes, heat waves, etc.) should be on the minds of political officials in office today. The government must invest in shifting to renewable and clean energy if we want to continue to survive as a country as well as a global society.
Cheung, Helier. “What does Trump actually believe on climate change?” News. BBC Washington DC. January 2020. Accessed May 13, 2020.
“The Green New Deal” Bernie. 2020. Accessed May 15, 2020.
“Joe’s Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice” Biden President. 2020. Accessed May 15, 2020.
History Lab 