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Opinion | Joe Biden just released a pretty good climate plan. The president is still a denier. - The Washington Post

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  jbb  •  4 years ago  •  10 comments

By:   Washington Post

Opinion | Joe Biden just released a pretty good climate plan. The president is still a denier. - The Washington Post
Yet another issue on which Mr. Biden offers serious plans and Mr. Trump has no clue.

Trump doesn't need a plan because he is a denier!


S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



EVEN BEFORE he released his latest climate proposals, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was far ahead of President Trump, who denies the problem and has spent four years dismantling the federal government's response to this century's greatest environmental threat. Mr. Biden admitted the necessity to act and had a rudimentary plan.

Now, Mr. Biden has fleshed out his plan. Once again, grading on a Trump curve, Mr. Biden gets an A-plus. Grading on a more conventional curve, Mr. Biden's proposal is serious but imperfect, the sort of plan that might in a normal election year spark a debate on cost, efficiency and the role of the private economy in decarbonizing the nation.

Mr. Biden gets many things right. He aims to eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions from the United States by 2050, the year by which scientists recommend the planet stop adding heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. To do so, he proposes transitioning the country to emissions-free electricity sources by 2035. The former vice president includes nuclear power as a potential contributor, rejecting the irrational antinuclear sentiment among some environmentalists, but he rightly does not guarantee it a permanent place in the mix if other sources prove better. He would ramp up building and vehicle efficiency so less energy is wasted; invest in urban public transportation; upgrade the electric grid; and pump up energy research funding.

The logical centerpiece of any such plan would be a policy that puts a steadily rising price on carbon dioxide emissions, such as a carbon tax, which economists have recommended for decades. Market actors would respond by switching to cleaner fuels and investing in efficiency, on their own, without excess government spending or central planning, prioritizing the easiest cuts while giving other sectors time to prepare.

Mr. Biden nodded to carbon pricing during his primary campaign, but he proposed this past week instead a more complex web of federal spending, subsidies and mandates. For example, he would mandate that the electricity sector steadily eliminate fossil fuel burning by 2035 using a system of credits that utilities would have to obtain to certify their compliance. The market for these credits would create a price on emissions, but only in the electricity sector. Mr. Biden would then layer on top of this mandate direct financing of renewables deployment and an extension of renewable tax subsidies. The mandate alone would deliver his 2035 goal, making the other policies expensive and duplicative.

By the same token, the mandate would not be needed if a neatly designed carbon tax was driving changes across the economy and not just in the electricity sector. But, instead of an economy-wide price signal, Mr. Biden appears to favor a series of sector-by-sector federal interventions. Some of these might work well, such as promoting building efficiency improvements that are likely to pay off quickly. Others, such as investing in intercity rail infrastructure, could end up costing huge amounts for meager climate benefits. As much as possible, the government should be agnostic about how emissions are cut, leaving these decisions to private actors incentivized to avoid polluting, because they will find the most efficient ways. Mr. Biden's plan all but gives up on that logic.

Mr. Biden's plan would do much good, and over the right time horizon. It is not bad, just less good than it could be. That puts it miles ahead of where the nation is now.


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JBB
Professor Principal
1  seeder  JBB    4 years ago

Trump doesn't need a plan because he is a denier!

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
2  seeder  JBB    4 years ago

Based on this alone we've all gotta go with Joe!

 
 
 
Jeremy Retired in NC
Professor Expert
3  Jeremy Retired in NC    4 years ago

Lets see. 

  • Trump has been in office for just under 4 years and will run on his accomplishments.
  • Biden has been in office for 40 years and will run on his PLANS.  Like this "climate change plan".

Nobody see the difference?

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
3.1  seeder  JBB  replied to  Jeremy Retired in NC @3    4 years ago

I see a viable plan from Biden butt zip from Trump...

 
 
 
Gazoo
Junior Silent
3.1.1  Gazoo  replied to  JBB @3.1    4 years ago

“I see a viable plan from Biden”

Did you read this part of the article?

“he proposes transitioning the country to emissions-free electricity sources by 2035.”

that means ALL electricity will come from solar, wind, and nuclear. Maybe a bit by wave motion for coastal communities. In 15 years? This is a fools dream. No way this will happen. 

 
 
 
Ronin2
Professor Quiet
3.1.2  Ronin2  replied to  Gazoo @3.1.1    4 years ago

Biden will make China rich though in the process; and run the US into an economic cliff.

The US doesn't have the technology or the capacity to build wind and solar panels ourselves. Guess who Biden will be sucking off to get that deal done?

We all know Joe doesn't think China is a threat.

 
 
 
Jeremy Retired in NC
Professor Expert
3.1.3  Jeremy Retired in NC  replied to  JBB @3.1    4 years ago

So you DON'T see the difference.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
4  Tessylo    4 years ago

"tRump has been in office for just under 4 years and will run on his accomplishments."

What accomplishments?

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
4.1  seeder  JBB  replied to  Tessylo @4    4 years ago

Good Question! Americans are feeling adrift today!

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
5  Paula Bartholomew    4 years ago

Trump is only a denier when he can't make a buck out of it.  He cried global warming as justification for Scotland picking up the tab to build a seawall for his golf course there.

 
 

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