Despite his former reputation as a pro labor politician, Joe Biden has been moving to the left on climate legislation, potentially putting blue collar jobs at risk.
Fracking, oil drilling, and mining would all see increased regulation and decrease in job opportunities under the new Joe Biden. Oil-industry projects like the Enbridge pipeline that could bring millions into the economy, already have the opposition of many democrats will also be in danger under the Biden administration.
Biden said in a recent Democratic debate, “We have to make sure we explain it to those people who are displaced, that their skills are going to be needed for the new opportunities.”
We have to treat climate change like the existential threat it is. As president, I will:
– End subsidies for fossil fuel corporations
– Ban new drilling on federal lands & waters
– Hold oil executives accountable
– Rally the world to raise the commitments of the Paris Agreement— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 16, 2020
On Joe Biden’s campaign site there is a section about climate change and environmental justice. It claims that the “Biden Plan” will bring the U.S. to 0% effective emissions by 2050. It also says, “On day one, Biden will sign a series of new executive orders with unprecedented reach that go well beyond the Obama-Biden Administration platform and put us on the right track.”
Biden also said, in the debate vs rival Bernie Sanders, “Number one, no more subsidies for [the] fossil fuel industry, no more drilling on federal land. No more drilling, including offshore, no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period, ends.”
Biden’s plan is not unlike the ideas of Minnesotan Governor Tim Walz. Both of them share the goal of dramatically reducing carbon emissions by 2050 as a way to address fears of climate change.
Experts including Nicholas Loris of the Heritage Foundation warn that these plans would dramatically raise natural gas prices for Americans, and also remove many jobs from the economy.