Biden’s Reported ‘Middle Ground’ Climate Policy Doesn’t Go Far Enough, Advocates Say

Former Vice President Joe Biden has not released a detailed climate policy since he entered the Democratic presidential primary race a little more than two weeks ago. But two sources close to his campaign told Reuters Friday that he is crafting a policy that would serve as a "middle ground" between environmental advocates and blue-collar workers who voted for President Donald Trump.
That policy would include:
- Re-entering the Paris agreement.
- Preserving Obama-era emission and fuel efficiency regulations that the Trump administration is attempting to roll back.
- Supporting nuclear energy and fossil-fuel options like natural gas and carbon capture technology.
Scientists, environmental advocates and fellow primary contenders immediately criticized the plan as out of step with the most recent science on climate change, such as last October's report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that says global greenhouse gas emissions must fall by nearly half by 2030 years to avoid more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels.
"Biden calls on physics, chemistry to meet him halfway," 350.org Founder Bill McKibben responded in a tweet.
Interesting strategy: Biden calls on physics, chemistry to meet him halfway. Will be curious to see how they respond https://t.co/PzNQA2WFp3— Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben)1557501610.0
Commentators noted that Biden's plan amounted to restoring Obama-era climate policy after attacks by the Trump administration, but that climate science in the years since Obama left office had shown that policy to no longer be enough to meet the threat posed by climate change.
"Reheating the Obama administration's regulations-plus-Paris approach will be totally insufficient," climate scientist and Niskanen Center policy expert Joseph Majkut told The Huffington Post.
More than half of Biden's primary opponents have backed a more ambitious Green New Deal to transition the U.S. from fossil fuels to renewable energy within 10 years while supporting green jobs and promoting equality, Reuters noted. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, all of whom back the Green New Deal, explicitly criticized Biden's reported "middle ground" approach, The Huffington Post reported.
Inslee, who has focused his campaign primarily on fighting climate change, was the first to respond.
"[T]he times and science have changed. We cannot simply go back to the past; we need a bold climate plan for our future," he said, according to Reuters.
Biden campaign spokesperson TJ Ducklo declined to comment to Reuters on the specifics of Biden's forthcoming climate plan, but said the candidate had called climate change an "existential threat."
In a Twitter thread Friday, Biden repeated the claim that climate change was an "existential threat."
"We need policies that reflect this urgency. I'll have more specifics on how America can lead on climate in the coming weeks," he said.
We need policies that reflect this urgency. I'll have more specifics on how America can lead on climate in the coming weeks.— Joe Biden (@Joe Biden)1557512466.0
One of the sources Reuters drew on for its report, Heather Zichal, who advised Obama on climate and is now advising Biden, said the middle-of-the-road approach was based on her experience with the Obama administration.
"I respect where they (activist groups) are coming from," Zichal told Reuters. "What we learned from the Obama administration is unless we find middle ground on these issues, we risk not having any policies."
However, in a tweet Friday Zichal said that "Reuters got it wrong."
I expect as president @JoeBiden would enact a bold policy to tackle climate change in a meaningful and lasting way," she wrote.
I expect as president @JoeBiden would enact a bold policy to tackle climate change in a meaningful and lasting way.… https://t.co/60qEJFdeL2— Heather Renee Zichal (@Heather Renee Zichal)1557507655.0
McKibben, in an op-ed for The Guardian, cast doubt on Zichal's follow-up statement and her suitability as a climate adviser, saying that she had headed an inter-agency group during the Obama administration that focused on promoting domestic natural gas development. After leaving the administration in 2013, she joined the board of fracked gas exporter Cheniere Energy.
McKibben called on Biden to change course.
"If he's going to mount a serious challenge to Trump, he's going to need the huge number of Americans for whom climate change has become the issue. On the biggest issue our civilization's ever faced, we need him thinking like it's 2030, not 2010," he wrote.
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Wisdom the mōlī, or Laysan albatross, is the oldest wild bird known to science at the age of at least 70. She is also, as of February 1, a new mother.
<div id="dadb2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aa2ad8cb566c9b4b6d2df2693669f6f9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1357796504740761602" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🚨Cute baby alert! Wisdom's chick has hatched!!! 🐣😍 Wisdom, a mōlī (Laysan albatross) and world’s oldest known, ban… https://t.co/Nco050ztBA</div> — USFWS Pacific Region (@USFWS Pacific Region)<a href="https://twitter.com/USFWSPacific/statuses/1357796504740761602">1612558888.0</a></blockquote></div>
The Science Behind Frozen Wind Turbines – and How to Keep Them Spinning Through the Winter
By Hui Hu
Winter is supposed to be the best season for wind power – the winds are stronger, and since air density increases as the temperature drops, more force is pushing on the blades. But winter also comes with a problem: freezing weather.
Comparing rime ice and glaze ice shows how each changes the texture of the blade. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
Ice buildup changes air flow around the turbine blade, which can slow it down. The top photos show ice forming after 10 minutes at different temperatures in the Wind Research Tunnel. The lower measurements show airflow separation as ice accumulates. Icing Research Tunnel of Iowa State University, CC BY-ND
How ice builds up on the tips of turbine blades. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
While traditional investment in the ocean technology sector has been tentative, growth in Israeli maritime innovations has been exponential in the last few years, and environmental concern has come to the forefront.
theDOCK aims to innovate the Israeli maritime sector. Pexels
<p>The UN hopes that new investments in ocean science and technology will help turn the tide for the oceans. As such, this year kicked off the <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)</a> to galvanize massive support for the blue economy.</p><p>According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem," <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338255#b0245" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Science Direct</a> reported. It represents this new sector for investments and innovations that work in tandem with the oceans rather than in exploitation of them.</p><p>As recently as Aug. 2020, <a href="https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainability/esg-investors-slow-make-waves-25tn-ocean-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> noted that ESG Investors, those looking to invest in opportunities that have a positive impact in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, have been interested in "blue finance" but slow to invest.</p><p>"It is a hugely under-invested economic opportunity that is crucial to the way we have to address living on one planet," Simon Dent, director of blue investments at Mirova Natural Capital, told Reuters.</p><p>Even with slow investment, the blue economy is still expected to expand at twice the rate of the mainstream economy by 2030, Reuters reported. It already contributes $2.5tn a year in economic output, the report noted.</p><p>Current, upward <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/-innovation-blue-economy-2646147405.html" target="_self">shifts in blue economy investments are being driven by innovation</a>, a trend the UN hopes will continue globally for the benefit of all oceans and people.</p><p>In Israel, this push has successfully translated into investment in and innovation of global ports, shipping, logistics and offshore sectors. The "Startup Nation," as Israel is often called, has seen its maritime tech ecosystem grow "significantly" in recent years and expects that growth to "accelerate dramatically," <a href="https://itrade.gov.il/belgium-english/how-israel-is-becoming-a-port-of-call-for-maritime-innovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iTrade</a> reported.</p><p>Driving this wave of momentum has been rising Israeli venture capital hub <a href="https://www.thedockinnovation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">theDOCK</a>. Founded by Israeli Navy veterans in 2017, theDOCK works with early-stage companies in the maritime space to bring their solutions to market. The hub's pioneering efforts ignited Israel's maritime technology sector, and now, with their new fund, theDOCK is motivating these high-tech solutions to also address ESG criteria.</p><p>"While ESG has always been on theDOCK's agenda, this theme has become even more of a priority," Nir Gartzman, theDOCK's managing partner, told EcoWatch. "80 percent of the startups in our portfolio (for theDOCK's Navigator II fund) will have a primary or secondary contribution to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria."</p><p>In a company presentation, theDOCK called contribution to the ESG agenda a "hot discussion topic" for traditional players in the space and their boards, many of whom are looking to adopt new technologies with a positive impact on the planet. The focus is on reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment, the presentation outlines. As such, theDOCK also explicitly screens candidate investments by ESG criteria as well.</p><p>Within the maritime space, environmental innovations could include measures like increased fuel and energy efficiency, better monitoring of potential pollution sources, improved waste and air emissions management and processing of marine debris/trash into reusable materials, theDOCK's presentation noted.</p>theDOCK team includes (left to right) Michal Hendel-Sufa, Head of Alliances, Noa Schuman, CMO, Nir Gartzman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, and Hannan Carmeli, Co-Founder & Managing Partner. Dudu Koren
<p>theDOCK's own portfolio includes companies like Orca AI, which uses an intelligent collision avoidance system to reduce the probability of oil or fuel spills, AiDock, which eliminates the use of paper by automating the customs clearance process, and DockTech, which uses depth "crowdsourcing" data to map riverbeds in real-time and optimize cargo loading, thereby reducing trips and fuel usage while also avoiding groundings.</p><p>"Oceans are a big opportunity primarily because they are just that – big!" theDOCK's Chief Marketing Officer Noa Schuman summarized. "As such, the magnitude of their criticality to the global ecosystem, the magnitude of pollution risk and the steps needed to overcome those challenges – are all huge."</p><p>There is hope that this wave of interest and investment in environmentally-positive maritime technologies will accelerate the blue economy and ESG investing even further, in Israel and beyond.</p>- 14 Countries Commit to Ocean Sustainability Initiative - EcoWatch ›
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