President Biden arrives at a political rally in Philadelphia on June 17. He has increasingly presented his climate agenda as a work agenda as his re-election campaign heats up. Joe Lamberti/AP hide caption
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Joe Lambert/AP
President Biden arrives at a political rally in Philadelphia on June 17. He has increasingly presented his climate agenda as a work agenda as his re-election campaign heats up.
Joe Lambert/AP
As part of President Biden’s recent “Bidenomics” campaign, aides from across the administration and close allies have been sent to events in the United States to try to convince people that the nation’s strong economy is the result of programs and policies of the president.
The message covers the Biden Inflation Reduction Act, a law that includes $369 billion in climate investments as an important step in the fight against climate change. But the emphasis has shifted to the number of jobs created by the projects, neglecting what the projects collectively mean for the drive to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Take, for example, a recent stop on the Bidenomics tour, where the president’s top climate aide, Ali Zaidi, joined Maryland’s Democratic governor, Wes Moore, at a townhouse near the Technical High School in carver Students are renovating the house while learning green building techniques.
Zaidi told NPR that green jobs programs are making a material difference in the lives of Americans.
“We see it here in Baltimore, where people are enlisting to help modernize our buildings, and now they have wind in their sails thanks to the president’s climate agenda,” Zaidi said.
Should Biden talk more about his climate achievements?
When he took office, Biden named addressing climate change as one of his top four priorities, and his administration has focused on climate and environmental policies.
When Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act a year ago, he talked at length about how his clean energy investments would help the climate. Now, as his re-election campaign moves forward, the economic benefits of the bill have taken center stage in his remarks.
“This bill includes the largest investment ever, not only in America but in the entire world, when it comes to climate change,” Biden told a crowd of union workers in Philadelphia during the first major rally of his campaign. “And the investment will not only help us save the planet, it will create jobs — lots of jobs, tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs.”
Politically, it makes sense to focus on the economy: voters consistently rank it as the most important issue to them and have expressed concern about Biden’s handling of it.
But the economic focus has left some voters in the dark about the considerable climate wins the administration achieved with the legislation. The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to spur a 40% reduction in US greenhouse gas emissions from the 2005 baseline by 2030.
Approval of Biden’s climate performance has waned
Since the bill was signed into law, approval ratings for Biden’s handling of climate change and the environment have declined. This is according to election from Data for Progress, which works for Democratic candidates and causes.
The drop was more dramatic among voters under the age of 30.
Koray Gates, 21, is a student from Colorado Springs, Colorado, who says climate change is one of his biggest concerns. He said he is frustrated by some of the decisions made during Biden’s time in office.
“[Biden] it does things like, you know, allow Arctic drilling again. And so,” Gates said, “it kind of weakens my faith.”
In March, Biden approved a large drilling project, known as Willow, on federal land in Alaska north of the Arctic Circle, prompting a strong backlash from environmental groups and young climate-motivated voters.
“President Biden is by far the best climate president we’ve had, but he’s also broken some key climate promises,” said Ed Maibach, who studies climate communication at George Mason University. “These broken promises have been a deep disappointment to some of his voters, especially young people.”
Meanwhile, most Democratic voters still haven’t heard much about Biden’s signature climate law, they say Maibach’s research.
“I don’t think the president has spent enough time or effort convincing the American people of the big problem [Inflation Reduction Act] is,” said Maibach. “To quote Cool hand Luke“What we have here is a lack of communication.”
The White House says these messages take time
Asked if he was worried about frustration among young voters or a lack of awareness about the Inflation Reduction Act, Zaidi, Biden’s climate adviser, said he thought the situation would improve over time.
“I believe that young people – thanks to the work of the administration, thanks to the leadership of the president – will be able to get on a school bus that does not pollute. They will see the fleet of the Post Office, which touches every home. and every street in every part of the county, be all electric,” Zaidi told NPR.
“The president could not feel more urgently the need to move forward, and he has done exactly that,” Zaidi said.
Meanwhile, young voters concerned about climate change seem unlikely to shift their support away from Biden and his party, given that Republicans have said they want to scale back Biden’s climate initiatives and support increased domestic production of fossil fuels.
Gates, the 21-year-old student, said that despite his frustrations with Biden, he doesn’t envision himself voting for a Republican challenger in the 2024 election, and he doesn’t think he or his friends will choose to drop out.
“It’s very important to vote, even if the person you’re voting for isn’t perfect,” Gates said, “even if everything isn’t as you’d like it to be.”
