ON FIRE: Biden's Green Deal or the Green New Deal?

Some of you may have witnessed the worst presidential debate in history. Some of you were disappointed, disgusted, or furious at the way Donald Trump continued to interrupt, or the way Joe Biden was fighting back or trying to make a case.

But did anyone pay attention to the specific question about climate change? It was frustrating to see both candidates more focused on attacking each other instead of explaining policy proposals to the American people.

Did anyone notice Joe Biden trying to make a case for his Green Deal, then became confused and actually referred to The Green New Deal?

It's worth trying to rewatch the full version of the climate change debate here.

But if you're not up to it, we highlight below when the confusion between the “Green Biden Deal” and the “Green New Deal” began:

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MODERATOR: What about the argument that President Trump basically says, that environmental interests and economic interests must be balanced? And he has drawn his line.

JOE BIDEN: Well, he hasn't drawn a line. He wants to make sure that methane isn't a problem. Now you can emit more methane without it being a problem. Methane. This is a guy who says you don't have to have mileage regulations for cars that exist now.

DONALD TRUMP: He's talking about the Green New Deal. And it's not 2 billion [interference] or 20 billion, as you said [interference]. It's 100 trillion dollars.

JOE BIDEN: I'm talking about Biden's plan...

MODERATOR: Okay. Allow me. Wait a minute, sir. I have actually studied your plan, and it includes the improvement of 4 million buildings, the air conditioning of 2 million homes in four years, the construction of one and a half million energy efficient homes. So the question is, the president is saying, I think some people who support the president would say, that sounds like it's going to cost a lot of money and hurt the economy.

JOE BIDEN: The fact is that it's going to create millions of well-paying jobs, and these tax incentives for people to climate themselves, which they want to get rid of. It's going to make the economy much safer.

JOE BIDEN:... we're going to be in a position where we can create hard, hard and good jobs by making sure that the environment is clean, and we're all in better shape. We spend billions of dollars now, billions of dollars, on floods, hurricanes, rising seas. We are in real trouble. Look at what has happened in the Midwest with these storms that come and wipe out entire sections and counties in Iowa. They haven't happened before. They're because of global warming. We constitute 15% of the world's problems. But in the rest of the world, we have to make them appear. That is why we have to return to the Paris Agreement.

DONALD TRUMP: So why didn't you get the world to... China sends real dirt into the air. Russia does. India does. Everyone does it. We're supposed to be good. And by the way, he made a couple of statements. The Green New Deal is one hundred trillion dollars.

JOE BIDEN: That's not my plan. The Green New Deal is not my plan.

JOE BIDEN: The Green New Deal will pay for itself as we move forward. We are not going to build plants that, in fact, are large polluting plants...

MODERATOR: So, do you support the Green New Deal?

JOE BIDEN: No, I don't support the Green New Deal.

DONALD TRUMP: Right? Oh, well, that's a great statement.

DONALD TRUMP: The radical left has just lost.

JOE BIDEN: I support the plan that I have presented.

JOE BIDEN: The Biden plan, which is different from what he (President Trump) calls the radical Green New Deal.

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Did anyone understand the candidate's political proposals to combat climate change?

No! Both candidates were on fire and couldn't understand what they were trying to convey.

Which reminds me, if you really want to learn more about the Green New Deal, you should read Naomi Klein's most recent book “ON FIRE: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal”.

The funny thing is that Joe Biden was so distracted by Trump's interruptions, that he made a simple mistake. There's really no need to do the “fact checking” this time. He spoke of the Green New Deal when, in fact, he was referring to HIS Green Deal.

Both CNN and Fox News had to do a fact check to explain to Americans what Joe Biden really had to say and how Biden's Green New Deal differs from the Green New Deal.

Biden knows we need a Green Deal, even though Democrats disagree on the details and on how quickly we need to get there. Both Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are behind the Green New Deal.

Right after the debate, Ocasio-Cortez said: “Our differences are exactly why I joined Biden's Climate Unity Working Group - so that we could set aside our differences and come up with an aggressive climate plan to address the planetary crisis at our feet.”

Biden's Green New Deal

1. Ensure that the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and that it reaches net zero emissions no later than 2050.
2. Return to the Paris Agreement commitments that the U.S. promised when President Obama signed it in 2015.
3. Addressing the abuse of power by polluters who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities.
4. Biden's climate and environmental justice proposal will make a federal investment of $1.7 trillion over the next ten years, leveraging additional private and state and local investments to total more than $5 trillion.

The Green New Deal

1. Achieve 100% sustainable energy for electricity and transport by 2030 at the latest and fully decarbonize the economy by 2050 at the latest.
2. Commit to reducing emissions worldwide, including contributing 200 billion dollars to the Green Climate Fund, rejoining the Paris Agreement.
3. End unemployment by creating 20 million jobs
4. Directly invest historic public investment of $16.3 trillion in these efforts

Here's the final result, friends: climate change is not a policy of the right or of the left.

Climate change is real and must be addressed by any party that claims a future for this planet.

The details need to be discussed, but let's face it: the U.S. is one of the world's leading emitters of greenhouse gases.

Will Americans vote as usual or will they vote for the future of our planet, and will they vote beyond the borders of the United States?

Fuentes

“Read the full transcript and watch the whole debate”. Daily Mail. September 30, 2020. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8788571/Full-transcript-Donald-Trump-Joe-Biden-debate.html

“Climate Change: Full Presidential Debate Video Part 6". CNN. October 4, 2020. https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/09/30/climate-change-first-debate-full-video-2020-dbx-vpx.cnn

“The Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice” Joe Biden Website. October 4, 2020. https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/

“Fact-checking Biden's attempts to distance himself from the Green New Deal”. CNN. September 30, 2020. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/30/politics/joe-biden-green-new-deal-fact-check/index.html

“Biden says at debate he doesn't support the Green New Deal, but his campaign website calls it 'crucial framework'”. Fox News. September 30, 2020. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-presidential-debate-green-new-deal-crucial-framework

Naomi Klein: “On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal.” Simon & Schuster. 2019 https://naomiklein.org/on-fire/

The Green New Deal. Bernie Sanders Website. October 4, 2020. https://berniesanders.com/issues/green-new-deal/#:~:text=1