By Anders Lorenzen

In the context of climate change, nothing would be worse for the world than four more years of Donald Trump.

I welcome the fact that many climate activists, NGOs and activists on the left of American politics, who were previously critical of Biden, have now come to the conclusion that not voting for Biden would be a serious betrayal to the fight against climate change. 

It is also positive to see that those activists who have pushed Biden on the issue of climate have seen some of that hard work rewarded by him significantly shifting his position on the issue since he first announced himself as one of the Democratic candidates. Of course, he could and should still do more and should, for instance, come out harder against the fossil fuel industry and not proudly declare that he would not ban fracking. 

Get Biden in the White House

But the number one priority must be to get Biden into the White House and elect as many Democratic candidates as possible into both national and local positions. If Biden is elected, activists should make sure the Biden administration sticks to its promises on climate and l be pushed to do even more.

There remain dangerous misleading theories rapidly spreading on social media that Biden is the establishment candidate and Trump is the anti-establishment candidate. And misinformed articles from the left continue to smear his name and push third party candidates. The idea that Trump is the anti-establish candidate could not be further from the truth; one look at the record of Trump’s first term in the White House reveals him sticking up for wealthy and elitist interests, ignoring working people (whom he pledged to look out for), ignoring the science on both climate change and COVID-19.

One should take positives from the fact that Biden listens to the activists, respects the science and is willing to lead and enact policies based on what the science says and is not afraid to change his position. While many activists are angry that Obama did not do enough to tackle climate change, once he finally started to move with initiatives like the Clean Power Plan, Biden was instrumental in making that happen. 

The last four years have shown that Trump is a dangerous man to have in the White House. Republicans are equally dangerous as they have sat in silence refusing to condemn Trump when he has stepped out of line. Power-hungry Republicans sitting in silence to protect themselves and not acting to preserve integrity do not deserve to hold political positions.

While Biden is currently holding a significant lead in the polls this could easily shift if people come complacent and choose not to vote Biden and go for a third-party candidate – this could enable Trump another four years in the White House.

So come 3rd of November, please boot out Trump and the Republicans for the sake of the future of the US and the future of a liveable and stable climate.