Who to Vote For if You Care About This Planet.

Let’s face it. It’s pretty obvious, but let’s just make sure.

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6 min readOct 18, 2020

Climate change. It’s been politely knocking for a few decades now, but in 2020, it busted the door down. 42% of registered voters say climate change is a very important issue in making a decision about whom to vote for,¹ and it’s no wonder why. Wildfires have burned a record-breaking four million acres across California, and for the second time ever, forecasters are naming hurricanes with Greek letters since the entire alphabetical list of hurricane names has been used up.² Climate disasters have cost the U.S. economy over $16 billion this year alone, and that’s projected to grow to half a trillion annually before the end of the century.³ But thank God, we have “the cleanest air now in the world. We have the cleanest water. Remember this. I’m an environmentalist. I want crystal-clean water. I want crystal-clean air.” That’s our self proclaimed environmentalist president Donald Trump speaking.⁴ The same one that “[doesn’t] think science knows” what’s happening with those wildfires in the West.⁵ Well, despite that clean air and water claim being quite suspect, there may still be confusion among a couple voters on which presidential candidate is the better choice for our planet. Biden has a relatively ambitious climate plan, but won’t commit to the Green New Deal. Trump says, “It’ll start getting cooler, you just watch.” It’s definitely a tough choice.

To make that choice, it helps to know what challenge lies ahead. The Paris Climate Agreement set a goal of limiting average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. However, the latest studies show that even that won’t be enough; we must limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to minimize losses of plant and insect species, preserve the coral reef population, and avoid extreme heat waves, frequent wildfires, and other devastating weather events.⁶ Global temperatures have already risen about 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times, and our current trajectory of 4–6 degrees warming puts us on track for unfathomable destruction. So, we’re shooting for 1.5 degrees. How could that be done?

NASA global temperature data showing the rapid rise of global temperatures since pre-industrial times.

According to Saul Griffith, a climate change researcher and MacArthur “genius” grant winner, the answer lies in electrification. He studied 50 years worth of energy data to be able to track every bit of American energy — from how it’s produced to how exactly it’s used as it passes through the economy. Turns out, charting the American energy economy comes in really handy in figuring out how we can meet our 1.5 degree target.

At a high level, most of the American energy uses, including those from the electrical grid, transportation, and building sectors, are powered by fossil fuels. Since most of our climate change problems stem from the human production of carbon dioxide, created when we burn fossil fuels like natural gas and oil to run our car or produce electricity, this poses a big problem.

Griffith’s research says the first step in decarbonizing the American economy lies in changing the source of our electricity. However, if we fully convert our electricity production, which currently relies mostly on natural gas and coal, to renewable sources, it only eliminates 20% of the United States’ carbon emissions.

The other 80% of our emissions stems from the portion of the economy that draws its energy directly from fossil fuels — our cars, and our natural gas heating systems, for example. To solve that piece of the puzzle, Griffith says, we must electrify. That means changing all our cars, machines, and equipment that use fossil fuels to their electric-powered equivalent. And while there are some industries that we wouldn’t be able to electrify immediately with the existing technology — think air travel and concrete production, for instance — the majority of industries can be electrified with existing technology to eliminate almost all of our carbon emissions.

It’s an elegant solution, but an enormous undertaking. And since we’ve waited so long while our emissions continued to rise, it needs to happen fast. It would require industrial and economic mobilization like nothing since FDR’s preparation for the entrance to WWII. “Why can’t we just accomplish this electrification through less extreme measures, like a carbon tax?” you ask. Well, Griffith considered that, too. The graphic below shows the rate of electric adoption for different policies. The second graphic shows the warming potential for those policies if we enacted them right now. Griffith found that in order to limit warming to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius, the most viable plan of action (the dark blue line in the graphics) given the American production capacity consists of two parts: 1) a bold, electric machine production ramp-up in the next 3–5 years and 2) a thorough deployment of this decarbonized infrastructure and technology through the end of 2035.⁷

Now that we know what needs to be done, we can get back to answering the original question: who should you vote for if you care about the planet? Let’s take a look at the candidates’ climate plans, compare them to the plan we need, and make a decision.

We’ll start with Biden. As he’s reiterated, Biden’s climate plan is not the Green New Deal (GND). Where the far-reaching GND calls for universal health care, the Biden climate plan doesn’t address the issue. Where the GND outlines lofty goals like affordable housing and a family-sustaining job for every American, the Biden plan is more narrow and far less expensive. However, his plan and the GND address many of the same issues. The Biden plan sets aside $2 trillion over four years for clean energy and infrastructure, with a quick timeline to achieve a carbon-free electricity sector (sound familiar?). It will create millions of jobs retooling the auto-industry and retrofitting buildings for the electric future. In line with scientific estimates to keep warming below 2 degrees, the Biden plan calls for a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.⁸ While not as specific as Griffith’s plan, it certainly follows a parallel path.

Biden also acknowledges that climate change isn’t just a domestic problem, and that solving it will require American leadership abroad. He says he will convene an additional climate summit to strengthen the world’s commitments to reduced emissions and negotiate multilateral trade agreements prioritizing the climate. And, he promises to take a hard line with other major polluters, like China, using carbon tariffs on imported goods from those countries not fulfilling their commitments.⁹ Not bad, Joe, not bad.

What about Trump? Considering he doesn’t have any climate plan, analysis of his impact is a lot easier. Over the course of the last four years, he’s rolled back Obama-era climate regulation across the board, all the while denying the existence of human-caused climate change. Rather than building climate infrastructure, he’s put interstate oil pipelines and terminals on the fast track. He hasn’t led the world in battling climate change. Instead, he’s pulling us out of the Paris climate accords of which every other country in the world is a part. Remember the 4 to 6 degrees of warming that would happen on our current trajectory? Well, Trump is that current trajectory, and he’s failed to change it for the past four years. Yeah.

We’ve heard it before: The first step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one. Trump doesn’t just fail to acknowledge the existence of climate change; he actively denies it while cozying up to the fossil fuels industry. On the other hand, Biden is acknowledging the problem, listening to science, and putting forth the most ambitious climate plan we’ve ever seen. So one more time: Who should you vote for if you care about this planet?

Clear answer: Joe Biden.

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Who to Vote For if You Care About This Planet.

Let’s face it. It’s pretty obvious, but let’s just make sure.

Written by Reese Costis