Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden signaled support for eliminating hundreds of thousands of blue collar jobs on Thursday night in order to transition to a “greener economy.”
Biden made the remarks during the Democratic presidential debate on CNN which was co-moderated by PBS and Politico.
“Vice President Biden, I’d like to ask you, three consecutive American presidents have enjoyed stints of explosive economic growth due to oil and gas production,” Tim Alberta said. “As president would you be willing to sacrifice some of that growth, even knowing potentially that it could displace thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of blue collar workers in the interest transitioning to that greener economy?”
“The answer is yes,” Biden responded.
“The answer is yes because the opportunity for those workers is to switch to high paying jobs,” Biden continued. “We should, in fact, be making sure right now that every new building built is energy contained, that it doesn’t leak energy, that in fact we should be providing tax credits for people to be able to make their homes turn to solar power. There are all kinds of folks — right here in California, we’re now on the verge of having batteries that are about the size of the top of this podium that you can store energy when in fact the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. We have enormous opportunities.”
WATCH:
QUESTION: "Would you be willing to sacrifice…hundreds of thousands of blue collar workers in that transitioning to that greener economy?"
BIDEN: "The answers yes." pic.twitter.com/23Qh1wyEa6
— Francis Brennan (@FrancisBrennan) December 20, 2019
Biden has embraced the framework of socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) extreme Green New Deal in a 22-page climate plan. The plan states:
Biden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face. It powerfully captures two basic truths, which are at the core of his plan: (1) the United States urgently needs to embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge, and (2) our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.
Daily Wire Editor at Large Josh Hammer wrote the following about Biden in an depth review of his policies:
On The Issues: Although Biden now presents himself as a moderate, centrist figure, the totality of his political career, overall, suggests that he is a firm leftist. Biden has dabbled at times in moderation, including previous support for tough-on-crime legislation and his longstanding stance that he is “personally pro-life” despite his support of legalized abortion. However, he has long been a progressive on legal issues, economic issues, and foreign policy issues, and even preempted President Obama’s “evolution” when, in 2012, he confirmed that he was “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriage.
Economy: Biden is best described as a Keynesian who believes in the purported economic benefits of large-scale government investments and deficit spending. Along with then-President Obama, Biden shepherded through a massive fiscal stimulus package in the duo’s first year in office, oversaw the passing of the regulation-heavy Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, dramatically expanded the national debt, and hiked income taxes on the wealthy. Biden has long been supportive of a greater federal role in infrastructure spending. On the issue of trade, Biden voted for NAFTA in 1993. Biden has opposed the privatization of Social Security.