this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2024
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Ok, well, sure, but you can see how these two assertions aren't fabrications about something Biden 'did', it's a statement that he isn't doing enough to address the problem or even mitigate the bulk of the harm those things have.. Right?
I understand you don't like criticisms of Biden because it feels like a threat to his re-election, but that doesn't make those criticisms a fabrication nor does it make them misplaced.
I'm not sure who if anyone has said he's 'actively hurting the climate on purpose', but I see a potential misinterpretation if someone said something about his approval of new oil drilling in Alaska (after campaigning on 'no new drilling contracts') - or approval of new gas pipelines - as an indication of "active" harm to the environment. A huge part of our disagreement exists in a difference of opinion on what 'reasonable' action he could take. And while a case could be made that he's done what he can without threatening US interests, a lot of leftists would say that the US has far too many interests and influences to begin with.
And I think this goes back to what I originally said: liberals are just not in alignment with leftist interests. Leftists give more weight to real climate impact over things liberals tend to give weight to, such as economic growth and GDP or international energy independence or hostile foreign relations. A lot of the reasons Biden doesn't do more are reasons leftists fundamentally disagree with. He is unwilling to take action that harms the system we seek to dismantle, and that means he frequently falls short of any kind of satisfactory result.
Maybe that's why you remain frustrated that we don't recognize his accomplishments; we see them as the continued prioritization of interests that are in conflict with progressive goals.
So on those specific topics: He introduced a bill to legalize marijuana federally, he set free anyone in federal prison for possession, and he requested for the DEA to reschedule marijuana (although the latter isn't real impactful in comparison to the first two). What else would you like him to do? Why does that represent him not doing enough to address the problem and a reason to oppose him specifically?
Scientists estimate that his climate bill is set to reduce emissions by 40% by 2030. He tried to do more, but Manchin and Sinema blocked him, and he tried again and got the 40% version through. Why is that not mitigating the harm? If we posit that he doesn't have a magic wand that he can use to directly alter the behavior of every government agency and company in the US, can we measure his overall impact based on the overall expected emissions in total based on what he did?
Here's one summary of why Biden might have approved the Willow project.
Here's one summary of why he might have approved the Mountain Valley pipeline.
You might look at that and say, well, that's establishment crap, and if he were a good leftist he would have done X, Y, and Z instead of approving those projects. And sure, for all I know you'd be right in saying that. To be honest, I'm not real qualified to say; I'm just showing you what I just found in the news about it. But let me ask this -- do you think that judging his impact on the climate based on an overall reduction in emissions from all of his legislative actions in total is a fair way to judge his impact?
What is climate impact, if not emissions? I haven't said a word here about GDP or anything like that as a way of judging the impact of his actions.
(Edit: Here's a breakdown of the climate bill and its expected impacts)
So... Much... Time.... Probably billable, I'm really starting to wonder who you're a staffer for in DC, or which think tank you work for. Maybe military contractor?
Maybe it takes me less time to type these things than you have as frame of reference
Is that what it says to say on the time card, or is it all digital. If you aren't getting paid for this, you are wasting your talents my friend.
There are campaigns that would love you and enjoy this. But I think you're already working for one, frankly.
In all honesty, the shills started to convince me that it's important enough that I might start volunteering for the Biden campaign or something. If I do wind up doing it, I'll be sure to let you know.
You should, you are amazing. Your arguments are excellent and long form. They are well cited, you clearly read and understand the citations, some of which have been political technical documents.
On top of all that you are maintaining that effort across multiple threads with multiple people. You are putting in pro level effort and pro level time! If you aren't doing that in a targeted way for something like the Biden campaign, that's a waste imo.
Glad you like it, happy to bring the discourse