Why We’re Voting for the Environment via Joe Biden in 2020

This election is the most important one in our lifetime. Here’s why it’s imperative we vote blue for the environment.

Although I’ve already dropped off my ballot at City Hall, I’m still making calls and encouraging people to vote for Joe Biden this election.

Over the past four years, the Trump Administration has already reversed nearly 100 Environmental Rules (current count is at 99). These are detrimental damages to our rights to clean air, clean water, land preservation, and wildlife. The Washington Post reported that as of yesterday, it will be legal for logging companies to build roads. and cut lumber throughout more than 9.3 million acres of Forest, in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, deemed America’s last climate sanctuary. Tongass, which is also one of the world’s largest temperate rain forests, offers an important service to the billions of people across the planet who are unlikely to ever set foot there: It is one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, storing the equivalent of about 8 percent of the carbon stored in all the forests of the lower 48 states combined, according to the NY Times.

Regardless of who wins the 2020 Election (with a deadline to vote on November 3rd), the US exits the Paris Climate Accord on November 4th. This makes the US virtually alone in exiting the agreement, alongside defectors Iran and Turkey. The exit means the US ditched its promise to slash emissions by 26-28% from 2005 levels by 2025, a detrimental blow with less than 10 years to take real action on climate change.

Joe Biden pledges to recommit the US to the Climate Agreement, but also lead an effort for every major country to ramp up their domestic climate targets. His climate plan spells out standing up to polluters disproportionally harming communities of color, build a resilient nation, and achieve a clean energy economy.

Climate change isn’t a distant possibility; it is already here and we are already experiencing its effects.

The difference between another four years of Trump’s failing environmental policies or choosing Joe Biden will determine if we have a livable society. It will determine if our children and grandchildren can enjoy pristine land unaffected by fossil fuels, logging, and more ravaging of our natural resources.

What about Philadelphia’s pledge to stay in the Climate Accord?

The City of Philadelphia has pledged to stay in the Paris Climate Accord in defiance of Trump’s pledge to pull out. However, that can only go so far.

Philadelphia can’t meet the goals without cooperation from the state and federal governments. For example, take Philly’s Powering Our Future plan. Its goal to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 is dependent on carbon-free electricity on the grid by 2050. However, Pennsylvania is a part of the PJM grid, which includes states like Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. One city or territory can’t regulate the power grid and requires the federal government to do so.

Obama’s Clean Power Plan cut a significant amount of carbon pollution and could regulate the grid. Trump replaced the plan with a new, less effective version that would let states set their own rules.

Another necessary way to reduce carbon emissions is to increase fuel efficiency standards. States nor cities cannot set these, it has to be the federal government. Trump rolled back auto pollution rules, allowing cars to emit more nearly a billion tons more carbon dioxide over the lifetime of vehicles than under the Obama standards.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia is not an island. What happens in the federal election directly impacts our daily life and the quality of life for those around us.

TL:DR: PLEASE Vote!

When you watch the disaster movie and wonder why the characters don’t take action and pay attention to the scientists, you don’t have to wonder. We are here, and we have a choice.

If you have not submitted your vote yet, you have two options. If you already have a mail-in ballot, drop off your ballot in person at a secure drop box. Do NOT mail it at this point.

OR, get to the polls on Tuesday. You can find your polling location here.

However you complete your vote, it’s absolutely crucial to vote this election. Don’t waste your vote on a third-party protest vote or abstaining… that is still a vote for Trump’s disastrous environment.

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