On March 23, the 1,312-foot-long container ship Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal is a human-made waterway in Egypt connecting the Mediterranean and Red seas, providing the shortest maritime route from Asia to Europe. The Ever Given blocked the canal for six days, leaving more than 400 ships stranded.
A lawsuit filed by the city of Baltimore in 2018 against more than a dozen major oil and gas companies has recently been brought to the Supreme Court. The lawsuit requests the companies pay for climate change damages, as they were aware of their negative impact on the environment and misled the public. The Supreme Court’s decision on whether or not to hear the case could set a precedent for future climate change cases.
Pictured above: the Border Wall. Photo courtesy of Flickr.
By Abby Wester ’22
Staff Writer
The U.S.-Mexico border wall has been a point of contention in American politics since President Donald Trump made a promise to expand it during his 2016 presidential campaign. Along with political concerns about the effectiveness and morality of physical borders, worries about their environmental effects have also arisen.
Physical barriers have existed on the U.S.-Mexico border for decades, dating back to the early 1900s. In recent history, the fencing along the border was expanded under President George W. Bush when he signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 — a move supported by former President Barack Obama, 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Senator Chuck Schumer.
When Trump won the 2016 election, he came closer to realizing his promise of expanding the wall along the country’s southern border. Though he has been working against political opposition to building the wall, he has remained true to his promise. Soon after his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order to begin building the border wall — and in January 2019, the longest American government shutdown took place because, according to Trump, the federal government’s budget did not put enough money toward building the wall. In Trump’s final weeks in office, he is still pushing to fulfill his promise and continue building the wall along the southern border, making it harder for President-elect Joe Biden to be able to undo the actions of his predecessor.
Since the plan’s emergence, the expansion of the border wall has significantly alarmed scientists and environmentalists, as it has a number of negative environmental impacts. Bush-era fencing has resulted in flooding in parts of Arizona due to the buildup of debris blocking natural water flows during rainfall. The barriers do not allow animals to migrate within their habitats, limiting their ability to find food and water and escape from floods or fires. A Bioscience paper concluded that a full border wall would inhibit one-third of 346 native wildlife species from accessing 50 percent or more of their natural habitats. The border wall also disrupts wildlife refuges, national parks, Indigenous lands and surrounding communities.
The environmental effects of physical barriers have existed for years on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, but they have been exacerbated by Trump’s expansion plans. While Trump’s time in office may have only lasted four years, the environmental and social impact of the border wall will long outlast his presidency.
Pictured above: President-elect Joseph Biden Jr. Image courtesy of Flickr.
By Abby Wester ’22
Staff Writer
After many grueling days spent counting absentee ballots, Joe Biden was announced president-elect of the United States on Saturday, Nov. 7. Biden’s win is generally seen by climate policy experts as a step in the right direction, but the efficacy and strength of his environmental policies have still yet to be determined.
In the Democratic primary, Biden was seen as one of the least progressive candidates when it came to climate. But when Biden became the candidate for the Democratic Party, he ran on a platform that prioritized combating climate change in the hopes of rallying his base. He has since proposed the most ambitious climate plan to ever be released by a major U.S. presidential candidate.
The political alignment of the Senate might challenge Biden’s ability to implement his plan. The Senate has been majority Republican since 2015. As of today, the political divide of the Senate is still in question, with Republicans holding 50 seats, Democrats holding 46 and independents holding two. Two more Senate seats are still up in the air in Georgia, where a runoff election will occur in January. The results of that election will either create a Republican majority or a tie between the parties.
A majority Republican Senate is traditionally seen as an enemy to climate policy and could block the legislation promised by Biden during his campaign. If any votes the Senate takes are divided 50 against 50, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will vote to break the tie.
If Biden is able to follow through on his climate promises, there may still be pressure and resistance from the political left. Biden’s moderate approach to climate in the primaries, along with his allegiance to fracking, have not left the minds of climate activists. Groups such as the Sunrise Movement have already spoken about their high expectations of Biden and are ready to be critical of his climate policies.
No matter the political makeup of the Senate or the hastiness of climate activists, Biden will have his work cut out for him when it comes to climate policy. President Donald Trump has spent the last four years disregarding climate science, reversing environmental regulations and, most recently, removing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. Biden’s response to climate change will likely displease many Americans given the divided politics of the nation. Climate change, however, will not wait for political disagreements as it continues to ravage our world.
Graphic by Anjali Rao-Herel ‘22
By Abby Wester ’22
Staff Writer
In the 2020 election, the issue of climate change often divides along party lines. Democrats tend to support policies that limit greenhouse gas emissions while Republicans generally take a more hands-off approach. Environmental policies also differ within the major political parties, specifically within the Democratic Party, as there are various moderate and left-leaning views. Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s responses to climate change have been split along party lines.
Biden’s climate plan is regarded as one of the most progressive ever listed on the U.S. ticket. His proposal promises to make a $1.7 trillion federal investment in environmental justice and clean energy over the next 10 years. Biden has been seen as an opponent of the Green New Deal, the congressional resolution put forth by progressive members of the Democratic Party to fight climate change. “I don’t support the Green New Deal,” Biden said during the first presidential debate. However, the plan that Biden’s campaign has released is similarly modeled after the Green New Deal in that it connects protection of the environment to the revitalization of the economy.
Biden’s plan has five key aspects. He promises the United States will use 100 percent green energy and have net-zero emissions by no later than 2050. He will invest in the nation’s infrastructure, which may improve climate resilience. The Biden campaign also pledges to rally the rest of the world to join in the United States’ efforts to combat climate change by urging other nations to abstain from actions that harm the environment, such as arctic drilling. By serving as a leader in the fight against climate change, Biden hopes to lead the world in creating green technologies and environmentally safe industry standards. Biden advocates for environmental justice and promises to stand up to the large polluters who, as the plan highlights, disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities. According to his plan, Biden will secure benefits for and invest in workers in the coal and power plant industries as the economy shifts toward clean energy.
Many conservatives have rallied against the progressive Green New Deal since it was proposed in Congress by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey in February 2019. Trump has accused Biden of supporting the Green New Deal, and Biden in turn denounced the congressional resolution. While Biden says he endorses the framework of the Green New Deal seen in his own climate plan, their formats are fundamentally different.
The Green New Deal is a congressional resolution. It’s a broad framework that outlines the goals of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while providing improved infrastructure and secure jobs for all Americans. Biden’s climate plan offers specific details about how the climate and economic goals would be achieved.
On the other hand, Trump has yet to release a cohesive plan of what he would do if granted a second term in office, but rather has provided a list of individual steps that he has already taken to benefit the environment as well as the economy. For example, he created a Superfund task force to streamline the cleanup of hazardous waste sites, signed an executive order to protect and restore one trillion trees by 2030 and invested in clean water infrastructure. When it comes to burning fossil fuels, Trump has rescinded the Obama administration’s clean power plan — along with a number of other environmental regulations that would limit greenhouse gas emissions — and worked to improve infrastructure and resources needed to increase gas and oil production in the U.S.
From immense detail to a more laissez-faire approach, there are several partisan ways to address environmental issues, such as climate change. Both candidates have taken steps to address the environment in a way that will please their core bases.
