this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2024
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I am so fucking sick and tired of this talking point. You really need to stop parroting that bullshit.
I'm going to vote for Biden. I'm going to tell everyone I know to vote for Biden. I'm going to have lawn signs and participate in local voter drives, because I want Biden to win.
But he is not progressive enough. Comparing him to previous presidents it the least convincing argument you could possibly make. It's offensive. He's more progressive than Trump? Fuck you.
Our presidents, our government, have been controlled by kleptocrats and oligarchs for as long as any of us have been alive, and all of us are suffering because of it. Our world is dying, our futures have been mortgaged, and our economy actively works to enslave us.
We have never had a progressive president or a progressive government, so it's like you're saying "Biden is the softest kick in the nuts we've had in a long time."
Yeah, ok, maybe you're right. Are we supposed to be grateful? Go fuck yourself.
I think you overstate what a President can do to say that Biden could do more.
Ps. No need to be so confrontational. Go fuck a moose ;)
Biden isn't just a president, though. He's a (presumably the most) influential leader in his respective party. he sets the policy direction for the entire DNC. "hey, The environment is an existential threat that will destroy our entire world and at the very least reshape society as we know it" is a perfectly reasonable thing for a president and party-leader to do.
Because, you know, failing to meet the climate crisis... well, we're not looking at the collapse of the US, or even global society. We're looking at the extinction of the human race. but the best he can do is subsidize EV's and solar panels. WOOOO. Literally every other crisis we're looking at- inflation, housing, safe water access, increased severity and frequency of storms and wildfires and other natural disasters, increased infectious disease, the immigration/migrant/asylum crisis, global conflicts, political extremism. ALL OF IT... will be exacerbated by climate change; and already is.
Good news then his administration has been on point for the messaging
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/11/14/remarks-by-president-biden-on-actions-to-address-the-climate-crisis/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/climate/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/04/20/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-catalyze-global-climate-action-through-the-major-economies-forum-on-energy-and-climate/
Great.
Now maybe we should stop new oil drilling, and cut back on oil exports as much as we reasonably can?
Maybe we should stop subsidizing oil.
maybe we should start funding public transit options, including busing, light rail, and regional high speed passenger rail. Maybe we should stop wasting money helping millionaires with beach front property rebuild and instead buy them out and create coastal wetlands, and protect inland wetlands better (and manage them during flood events.)
maybe we should invest in protecting barrier reefs, which help diminish the impact of storms, and
Maybe we should mandate environmental impact reporting for publicly traded companies. (and lets just ad social reporting, too. cuz why not?)
maybe we should make sure people have livable wages so that they can afford to invest in climate resilience so they don't become a burden after a catastrophe, and fight arbitary increases in costs so that people can afford to buy local and healthy food... supporting small farmers rather than giant AG corps that blow out more greenhouse emissions just checking on the crops than I do in a month.
perhaps, we should look into a sustainable carbon neutral military, because you know, a sustainable military is part of national security....
maybe we should invest in helping other countries get off oil, too.
Biden can't or won't do what's necessary to get us out of this mess. His messaging might be on point, but his actions aren't.
You are right, Biden can't do what is necessary as President. He can only do what is legally within his purvue, Congress would need to pass laws to do most of what you mentioned above.
What he can do that he is not is pushing congress to do so.
Saying that he’s powerless is a cop out. He’s not powerless and you missed the part where I explained how he’s not just POTUS.
Apparently you missed the part where he is a leading voice in a drive to deal with climate change and calls it an existential threat to humanity, uses the powers available him to pursue research and proposes monumental investments to deal with it. Do those investments line up with every one of your points, maybe not, but I'm certain that far more informed individuals than we will be in the rooms to debate which are more deserving and workable. But all of that is entirely dependent on legislative action. It is simple to do a cursory search of White House press releases to see what executive actions the Biden administration has taken, and they are not few.