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Tom Rinaldo

(22,911 posts)
Sun Dec 12, 2021, 11:14 AM Dec 2021

Build Back Better IS the Climate Bill. Without it we are spectators as climate catastrophes multiply

How many more record breaking extreme weather anomalies can we undergo in one year before New Year's Day flips the calendar? The question is meaningless: whatever record 2021 brings us in all likelihood will be shattered in 2022.

Since the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the short term advances in the Biden Administration's climate related policies have consisted of releasing billions of barrels of oil from the national reserve while calling on OPEC to increase oil production. Of course I "get it." Those weren't energy initiatives, they were economic initiatives . And they had a strong political component. Rising inflation is hurting Democrats in polls. Democrats losing in 2022 would hobble U.S. efforts to combat climate change. So push for short term increased fossil fuel production...

Does anyone seriously think Democrats have a ghost of a chance to retain control of Congress in the mid terms without a massive mobilization of younger voters who view climate change as an existential threat to their future? Does anyone seriously think Democrats have a ghost of a chance of benefiting from a massive mobilization of younger voters in 2022 if we do not, at the very least, pass into law all of the climate provisions of Build Back Better without further delay or watering down?

It is a moral imperative first and foremost.But it is just as much a political one.

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brooklynite

(93,840 posts)
1. Democrats need to find a way to frame a message on climate change that voters can relate to...
Sun Dec 12, 2021, 11:19 AM
Dec 2021

...I met with Lt. Governor John Fetterman last week and even he won't propose banning fracking, because of the impact it would have on heating bills for the working class in Pennsylvania.

Tom Rinaldo

(22,911 posts)
2. I don't dismiss working class economic concerns regarding energy costs
Sun Dec 12, 2021, 11:41 AM
Dec 2021

Democrats ignore them at our peril. A lot of families won't be able to afford to heat their homes this winter. For them, it is about survival. But energy costs are not a unique economic challenge. Higher education costs continue to soar, as do medical costs and housing costs and even food costs. Democrats craft progressive initiatives to deal with that. It is what we do. We have never been the Party that turns passive and submissive in the face of so called capitalist supply and demand market forces. We subsidize costs, we re prioritize resources, we create public initiatives like the TVA back in the 30's and rural broadband expansion programs today.

Meanwhile climate change does present a unique threat to our future, and most voters under 40 (at the very least, get that loud and clear. They make up a critical part of the Democratic base, voters who we will need to turn out in masse) in order to prevail in upcoming elections.

Our consistent failure to message effectively on climate change is a continuing source of confusion and consternation. Arrayed against us is the fervor of the MAGA movement. It is deranged and built on lies, but it is a literal movement, ill conceived as it clearly is. Where will the enthusiasm come from to counter that? A mobilization to Save Our Planet holds a potential answer, but not if National Democrats are viewed as lips service warriors to that cause.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
3. Well all I have say about that is that the younger voters will be sorry in the end...
Sun Dec 12, 2021, 11:55 AM
Dec 2021

You have to vote Democratic always...and it is more imperative now. I don't need to be 'wooed' to vote, I always vote and I don't expect miracles from a 50 50 Senate...and both the House and the Senate should reach a compromise and pass this bill.

Tom Rinaldo

(22,911 posts)
4. Us hard core activists are wired that way, it never needs explaining to us or added incentives
Sun Dec 12, 2021, 12:33 PM
Dec 2021

But for millions of voters, probably a majority of them, it doesn't always work that way. We can discuss this forever and I will never truly understand it. Why not bother to vote? It makes no sense. It takes less than one day a year to do so. Maybe "most of the time" it may not appear to "make a difference" (an almost always false conclusion) but there are so many clear exceptions to that false read that virtually everyone can point to. Need college loan debt relief? That is a policy up for grabs. Find those Covid relief checks Democrats delivered this year "helpful?" That passed without a Republican voting for it. "Grateful" that insurance companies can't deny medical services due to "preexisting conditions?" Republicans tried to kill that, and came damn close to doing so.

But every year pollsters key in on supposed "enthusiasm gaps" that show which party's core voters are most likely to make it to the poll that year. They don't just make that shit up, it's real, and elections are won and lost because of it. I agree that Democratic Party voters should "know better", but chastising them after the fact doesn't do a damn bit of good if they don't show up to vote on election day. Enthusiasm is a key motivating factor in get out the vote efforts. Successful campaigns know how to motivate the voters who should be on their side to not only vote, but to also help in the campaign effort. When young voters strongly identify Democrats with a cause that is critically important to them, youth voter turnout spikes. It is just human nature it seems.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
5. I think there are not now nor ever will be enough incentives. Thus, I think we will in the end move
Sun Dec 12, 2021, 02:58 PM
Dec 2021

more to the center...there will be no choice. The votes we need are in purple and red areas, particularly for the Senate. It is a damn shame. But you can't just sit around waiting for people to motivate while critiquing every perceived democratic failure. We will lose and then they will figure out as some really important programs go away that they were badly mistaken.

Vote blue no matter what or suffer the consequences. The mess some whine about now was created by the 'but her emails' crowd in the 16 general elections who voted for someone besides Hillary. She was the only one that could stop Trump. We had a vacant SCOTUS seat! But that didn't matter to them.

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