NextGen Climate’s Weekly Recap: Donald Trump’s Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
It’s been a terrible week for Donald Trump. After seeing a progressive and inclusive Democratic vision for the country at the Democratic National Convention, Donald Trump responded by doubling down on the divisive, racist and dangerous agenda that has characterized his campaign. He continued his attacks on the family of a young American soldier who was killed in Iraq, once again demonstrated his total ignorance of foreign affairs, and even kicked a crying baby out of a campaign appearance!
Trump also spent time this week launching a ridiculous and false attack on clean energy. During a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, he falsely claimed wind and solar aren’t viable sources of energy. And get this: Donald Trump—the guy with a gold-plated toilet—objected to wind energy on the grounds that it was ugly. Trump is dead wrong on clean energy: wind and solar are cost-competitive with fossil fuels in most states, and the cost of these energy sources continues to become more affordable. In fact, over the last seven years, the costs of wind and solar energy have dropped by 40 and 80 percent, respectively. These trends are likely to continue, with some estimates projecting further price reductions of up to 59 per cent by 2025. By dismissing clean energy, Trump is also dismissing one of our country’s greatest opportunities to create jobs and protect our future.
Trump’s refusal to address climate change and baseless opposition to clean energy is hurting him in the polls—especially among young voters. According to a poll released last week by NextGen Climate and Project New America, Trump’s approval rating is close to rock-bottom with millennials. One of the reasons these young voters have such a low opinion of The Donald is his long record of ignoring the threat of climate change. This means, as Rebecca Leber writes in Vox, “if Democrats emphasize climate change and clean energy, they could make progress in winning over this demographic.”
One Democrat already doing that? President Obama.
Under the current Democratic administration we’ve recently seen an emphasis on climate change and accelerating the transition to clean energy that contributes to President Obama’s sky-high approval rating with young voters. The Obama Administration announced this week that every new infrastructure project must consider that project’s impact on climate change. This week also marked the one-year anniversary of the Clean Power Plan, the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from our country’s power plants.
So after a good week for our climate—and a bad week for Donald Trump—it’s clear that the best way for Democrats to win in November is to stake out bold policies to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean energy economy. As Democrats work to unite their party, emphasizing candidates’ clean energy bona fides will help progressives win a climate mandate in November.
The Hill: Trump: Wind power ‘kills all your birds’
Donald Trump bashed renewable energy sources Monday night, saying solar power doesn’t work well and wind turbines kill birds.
ThinkProgress: Fastest-Growing Source Of Electricity ‘Not Working So Good,’ Trump Claims
Campaigning in Pennsylvania on Monday, Republican nominee Donald Trump went on an odd — but on-brand — rant against solar and wind. Trump appeared to occasionally conflate the two renewable energy technologies, and criticized both for being expensive.
Vox: Many young voters don’t see a difference between Clinton and Trump on climate
One presidential candidate says scientists who work on climate change are “practically calling it a hoax” and wants to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency. The other calls climate change “an urgent threat and a defining challenge of our time.”
Washington Post: From now on, every government agency will have to consider climate change
But as Obama’s term dwindles, the act isn’t over — on Tuesday the White House released yet another policy to fight climate change, one with potentially far-reaching consequences.