E-Paper
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris should address ecological collapse now
Internally, Biden-Harris have committed to fighting extinction by protecting significant parts of America and restoring protection to critical habitat Trump cancelled.
Biden-Harris have won, and with them, the idea that the planet requires urgent protection from over-consumption, as do the poor. Although Biden is unlikely to cajole the Republican Senate to support his ideas, he can still enable global transformation.
The US should at once re-join the Paris Agreement and the WHO. Doing this indicates US intent. Internally, Biden-Harris have committed to fighting extinction by protecting significant parts of America and restoring protection to critical habitat Trump cancelled. They’ve also promised clean electricity by 2035, and letting states like California pursue their ambitious environmental agenda, for example.
Some of this will be hard without full Senate support, but Republicans under 40 are beginning to show concern about climate change, so perhaps there’s more support for these ideas than one believes.
The US sets global trends. From worshipping super foods to stripping racism of all sense of shame, American values seep into other countries and cultures. All the more reason for Biden-Harris to push the envelope. We cannot afford to have an American President who asks citizens to go out and shop in the face of crisis. We need a President who asks citizens to share more than buy. We need an America where the mainstream acknowledges the environmental limits to consumption. Biden-Harris should address ecological collapse. The 46th President of the US can-and must-steer the world towards a place where reducing consumption, not increasing green consumption, is the way ahead. ‘Have Less’ should be the new American motto.
(The writer is Founder and Director Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group)
