Joe Biden Has Another Big F*cking Deal For Climate, Again
Joe Biden Has Another Big F*cking Deal For Climate, Again

Joe Biden Has Another Big F*cking Deal For Climate, Again

You may have noticed that in recent weeks, the Biden administration has been rolling out a hell of a lot of new regulations. Earlier this month it was big student loan reforms and a massive improvement in how public lands are managed, then this week we had better pay and working conditions for working Americans, minimum staffing ratios for nursing homes, and even improved service on airlines.
That’s not only because it’s an election year, though Joe & Kamala certainly do like to point out that where the Other Guy rages (and wants to raise inflation!) they’ve been busy making Americans’ lives better. But the bigger reason is that the administration wants to get new rules finalized prior to May, to keep them from being tossed out in the next Congress via the Congressional Review Act, which Donald Trump and his cronies used to reverse a bunch of Barack Obama’s environmental regulations.
. . . The requirement that coal plants find a way to eliminate 90 percent of their emissions by 2032 effectively accelerates the end of coal for power generation, which was inevitable anyway. Roughly 70 percent of US coal plants have already closed, and last year, coal generated only 16 percent of electric power, a new record low. In addition to the emissions rule, three other final rules also impose strict new limits on mercury, coal ash, and pollution of wastewater, to put an end to the environmental degradation caused by coal.
. . . The other option, obviously, would be for utilities to meet coming demand with renewables, as administration officials pointed out when previewing the new rule. Thanks to the IRA’s hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives, carbon-free power generation, including battery storage, already beats the cost of building new gas plants. Going forward, the administration is confident renewables will be the far more cost-effective and reliable way to meet increasing demand by 2032, when the emissions limits fully kick in.
This is so much better than all the posts shaming voters for not wanting to vote for Biden.
Biden is a far cry from the President that I want, but it's ignorant to claim he hasn't been a hell of a lot better than Trump, or even Obama and Clinton. After 50+ years of really shitty Presidents and an even worse Congress, Biden is arguably the best we've had. It's entirely possible to promote Biden with honest accounting without trying to silence the voices saying the Democrats must do better.
That said, of the Democrats try to force Harris on us without an actual primary in 2024, then it's time to repeat the 1968 national convention. Our FPTP system means that primaries are effectively the only real democracy we get, and the way they are run by the DNC (and RNC) is abysmal.
I mean he has been quite a bit better than any president I have experienced in office but it is sad that the bar is so low.
This is the correct response. He's been world's better than expected on many things. But between those expectations and Republicans that bar was ridiculously low.
There are many things I wish biden and Democrats would do. But complaint wise Biden's kid gloves and undeservedly diplomatic tone with Israel is the biggest. Though completely expected given the century of propaganda and enabling of such a dangerous regime over there. It doesn't all fall on biden. But he still wrong for his part.
I genuinely don't understand where this comes from. I haven't seen a single serious person argue that we shouldn't criticize the Biden administration or the Democrats. What does get pushback is the idea that we shouldn't vote for them in November. When someone is suggesting the solution to the very real issues the Democratic Party has is to enable the GOP and give them more power they absolutely should get chastised.
Agreed on everything else though. If everyone who was upset about Biden actually got involved and voted in the primaries it would be much easier to get representation that actually serves our needs. The DNC only has so much control.
There are several places it comes from.
First, there has been a meme campaign about Biden being better than Trump that seems to go out of it's way to "call out" those of us who are fed up with the behavior of the Democratic establishment (DE). They imply we are fools who don't comprehend how bad Trump is. The people those memes are directed at don't really exist. They are a myth put out by the DE to sideline progressives. There has also been a recent wave of right wing bots that perpetuate the myth to further drive the wedge between progressives and the DE. Those bots aren't going to be convinced, and progressives don't need to be.
The second is that it is nearly impossible to criticize the DE without getting lectured about how much worse Trump is. Being a tiny bit better than fascist is apparently enough for Democrats privileged enough to not suffer under even Democratic policies. I think this video shows a great example. I try to always mention that Republicans are worse when criticizing Democrats, but that rarely makes a difference.
The third place is from old timers like me who have watched Democrats coddle fascism ever since Reagan. What we are living through now didn't start with Trump, and it wasn't just the fault of Republicans. Many of us have been fighting Democratic mediocrity since before most Americans ever heard of Bernie Sanders. The DE is routinely snide and dismissive of the left, even as they fail to grasp the Republican threat. They say the country wants centrists, but run to the left with their rhetoric before every election. In that context, both of the previously mentioned items tend to strike a nerve.
Genocide Joe is better than Obama or Clinton were? That's a hot take
Obama preferred to bomb civilians directly rather than by proxy (CIA drone assassination program).
Still, all far better than Trump. Like Trump wouldn't have bent over Israel pressure himself.