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Why This Matters: As Election Day draws near, new polls by Pew Research found that 68% of registered voters consider climate change to be a “very important” or “somewhat” important issue. Many experts (and even some coal workers) agree that investing in renewable energy will help create jobs and boost the economy. Renewable energy is more economically viable than ever and voters support it. Moderate Dems may have been nervous that Republicans will try to skewer Biden over this remark, but these polls suggest that might not work. The question will be whether it flips any voters in a crucial swing state. Only time will tell.
Climate Deserves the Air Time
This was the first time in the 2020 presidential debates that the candidates were asked specifically about their plans to address climate change. Voters seemed to appreciate the airtime; fewer than 1 in 5 registered voters polled by Morning Consult felt that too much time was spent on climate in the final debate. 39% thought there was too little time dedicated to the climate, while 37% thought it was just the right amount.
A Fine Line
The poll found that registered voters trust Biden on climate change over Trump by a factor of 2 to 1. Trump has lost the trust of many energy workers, but experts are wary of the tightrope Biden must walk to maintain moderate and liberal voter trust. Voters on the left are concerned that Biden’s moderate stance will stymie the climate necessary to avoid catastrophe, but those in the middle don’t want to see layoffs and job cuts due to the loss of an industry that has dominated the American economy for a century.
Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.), who flipped a Republican district in 2018, wants more compromise in a Biden presidency. “I think, far too often, it’s too easy for people to oversimplify things and put people into categories that say you’re either with me or you’re against me,” she said. But more liberal lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a chief co-sponsor of the ambitious Green New Deal, praised Biden’s climate goals. The Biden Campaign’s strategy has seeming had some success, with Biden managing to garner the trust of 18% of Republicans following his final debate performance.
By Lew Milford With its recent executive orders on environmental justice, the Biden administration has put energy equity at the front and center of its domestic policy agenda. The challenge now is to put these principles into practice. That job has been made much more critical with the massive power outage that just crippled Texas. […]
by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer As the domestic electric vehicle market in the United States continues to hit its stride and new competitors vie in the race to electrify, Lucid Motors has emerged as an ultra-luxury competitor to EV darling Tesla Motors. This week, Lucid went public through a SPAC with Churchill Capital Corp […]
The Texas freeze and subsequent blackouts have given the Biden administration the chance to show the country how it will handle natural disasters, and they’ve already done one thing much differently than the Trump administration: acknowledged the role of climate change. And now, due to surge pricing, Texans are facing utility bills in the thousands of dollars for what little heat they got.
Why This Matters: The Biden administration wasted no time declaring an emergency and stating it would review preparation for future storms.
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