My stance on voting for Joe Biden as a climate organizer.

Joe Biden was no dream candidate. In fact, this thread would be much longer if I was condemning him rather than giving a reason to vote for him. Nonetheless, here we go…

Many make the case for a Biden Presidency on the basis of “he’s not Trump” or “harm reduction.” The truth is, based on policy record, the margin of difference between Trump and Biden is very small– especially for BIPOC.

Any argument for “harm reduction” can be quickly discredited with Biden’s support for the ’94 Crime Bill, ICE cages, wars... However, there is ONE case to be made for harm reduction under a Biden administration and it has to do with his climate plan.

Work on the ground through movements, alternative institution building, and mutual aid will always be more powerful and effective at improving material conditions and cementing change than elite-run elections. However, based on the time scales involved for our climate, vote.

We have a 7-10 year deadline to decarbonize our economy in order to avert irreversible catastrophe for our climate. Our work on the ground does not yet have accessibility to the wealth or infrastructure needed to combat this crisis. Enter the unenthusiastic case for Biden…

First off, under Trump, expect denial, fossil fuel expansion, rising emissions, and brutalization of a changing climate’s effects. (Examples: March 2019 - Cutting $700m in aid to Guatemalan farmers facing drought; June 2018 diverting $10m from FEMA to ICE during hurricane season)

Biden’s climate plan, although still in need of much more, embodies the baby step toward a bold solutions. (ex. 100% clean electricity by 2035, 40% of investments going toward climate vulnerable communities like mine.) These are direct markings of a Green New Deal.

Biden responds better to bold climate solutions than climate-denying Trump. Thanks to the work of @sunrisemvmt and allies @AOC and @BernieSanders the Biden climate plan is what it is now. Given a Biden admin, there’s a lot more to demand.

So what am I saying about harm reduction? Half a degree of prevented warming can be the difference between life and death for thousands of people. So reluctantly yielding to that liberal talking point– yes, this election has a lot at stake.

The important part is, given a Biden win, that you do not become complacent. Keep resisting and marching, keep caring for people you don’t know, keep imagining and working towards collective liberation in a world beyond capitalism.