Tag Archive: climate change

Biden undoes Trump’s war on language

Trump White House official at work on government website

As a recent New York Times article (reprinted here at Yahoo! news) indicates, one of the many areas where President Joe Biden is trying to undo the extensive damage done by Donald Trump is the language used by our federal government. Obviously, Trump and his minions agreed with what we have written about here for more than 10 years, i.e. that “messaging matters” and, in particular, that Republicans are experts at framing issues in ways that favor their point of view. Part of this framing is the use of certain loaded words and phrases. While Trump was in the White House and not busy playing golf, he liked to use Nazi propaganda tactics such as the repetition of big lies, and he had his federal government employ loaded words, or prohibit the use of other words, to gain political advantage. The two areas where this seems most prevalent were, perhaps not surprisingly, the politically contentious subjects of immigration and the environment/climate change. Take a look after the jump to see what Trump did, and how Biden is trying to repair the damage:

After Trump exit, Biden and Democrats rejoin world community

Russia, where we can expect a big change between Trump and Biden

Of all of Donald Trump‘s boneheaded and dangerous moves, some of the worst involved America’s place in the world. Specifically, Trump cozied up to our adversaries such as Russia, he withdrew from crucial international agreements such as the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iran Nuclear Agreement, and he alienated our longtime allies such as our fellow NATO nations. Now, President Joe Biden and the Democrats who control both houses of Congress have begun the difficult work of repairing America’s tarnished image and restoring some safety to the world.

Biden inauguration: America gets a reboot

One thing we’ll have less of in the Biden Oval Office

With a new year and the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris tomorrow, many Americans are looking forward to getting a fresh start. In modern terms, we can call it a “reboot” for America. Here are some areas where we will get a much-needed reboot with President Biden:

COVID — we hardly need to recount the Trump administration’s failures to address the COVID pandemic. Those failures continue today, with vaccine distribution woefully inadequate, and Trump officials predictably lying to cover their negligence (or worse). However, Joe Biden and his team have a plan to hit the ground running, from better vaccine distribution to a nationwide mask mandate. There can be little doubt that Biden will improve the Coronavirus situation.

Four life hacks to help Joe Biden into the White House

Democratic voters celebrating victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Right now, America is suffering a kind of dual political reality. One the one hand, Joe Biden has won the 2020 presidential election and is now considered the President-elect. On the other hand, Donald Trump and many leading Republicans are denying Biden’s victory, instead supporting Trump’s frivolous court challenges to the results in a number of states. In the meantime, Trump has instructed his Executive Branch officials not to cooperate with President-elect Biden’s transition team, which is dangerous for U.S. national security and our health, given the worsening COVID pandemic. Therefore, we have a strong interest in resolving this latest Trump-created Constitutional crisis quickly, and letting Biden get his team in place to receive briefing and other crucial information. Here are four ways, from a messaging perspective, that we can help President-elect Biden become President Biden smoothly, thoroughly and on time:

Joe Biden’s closing Iowa argument: defeat Trump first

Former Vice President Joe Biden

Just before Iowa’s first in the nation Democratic presidential caucus next Tuesday, Joe Biden‘s campaign has released its latest Iowa-targeted ad. Entitled “Imagine,” the ad has Biden himself on camera, asking viewers to “imagine all the progress we can make in the next four years,” including affordable healthcare, renewable energy to tackle climate change, and banning assault weapons to reduce gun violence in our schools. At the end of the ad comes the kicker from Biden:

But first, we need to beat Donald Trump. Then there will be no limit to what we can do.

Climate Reality Project sends out “Climate 101 fact sheet”

Climate change protest in Australia

The Climate Reality Project has taken a step forward in messaging about climate change, by releasing a “Climate 101 fact sheet.” This short publication is more of a talking points tip sheet, and is thus very useful for anyone who is concerned about climate change and who encounters the typical right wing talking points against climate change, that originate with fossil fuel companies.

Rainforest Alliance releases climate change talking points

They want to know what we’re doing about climate change

It’s winter time, so of course many parts of the country and the earth are cold, as expected. Sadly, however, other places are literally burning up. What we also expect this time of year, unfortunately, is for some conservatives in the northern hemisphere to step outside, pick up some snow or put on their winter coat, and say, “See? There is no climate change!” Thankfully, just in time for those family Christmas dinners, the Rainforest Alliance has released a half dozen talking points to counter these phony conservative climate change claims. Democrats, liberals and progressives, or just thinking people who have known for years that the earth is warming, due in part to human activity, and that we’re at a dangerous tipping point, can all benefit from absorbing and then using these talking points. Here is a sampling of some of the climate deniers’ arguments, and suggested responses by the Rainforest Alliance:

DCCC releases 2019 Thanksgiving dinner talking points

Thanksgiving dinner table, before the political food fight

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has released a humorous, menu-style set of talking points for Democrats to respond to that Republican blowhard who seems to spout off at everyone’s Thanksgiving dinner. The talking points, which can be found in this .pdf, are entitled “Know Your Stuffing.” Each subject has a cute Thanksgiving dinner theme, complete with food graphics, and is designed as a response to a Republican rant, since they always seem to be the ones who bring up these political subjects at the holiday table. For example, there is “Aunt Mary’s ‘There Was No Quid-Pie-Quo,'” described as “a crust so flaky, it falls apart the moment you present it with evidence.” Responses to this talking point are listed under “What to Bring,” and include:

  1. Multiple members of the Trump administration have testified before Congress there was a quid pro quo agreement with Ukraine.
  2. Trump himself—in a memo he released—admitted he withheld aid from Ukraine until they dug up dirt on his political opponents.

Both of these responses even include footnotes to reputable sources for this information.

Democrats go on offense at CNN “Climate Crisis” town hall

Earth on fire

CNN aired a seven-hour marathon town hall on the “Climate Crisis” yesterday evening. The event featured the top 10 presidential candidates for the Democratic Party nomination, chosen using the Democratic Party’s criteria for its presidential debates.

The first CNN host of the evening, Wolf Blitzer, mentioned Hurricane Dorian in the first sixty seconds of the town hall, and he and the subsequent hosts returned to current reports about the hurricane during the program. Most questions came from the audience, both those in the room and others via satellite from various locations. Many of the questioners were environmental activists, students, or academics, and most such questions were very specific and pointed.

Here are some of the highlights of what each candidate, in order of appearance, had to say:

Beto O’Rourke does it differently

Beto O’Rourke on the campaign trail in Iowa

Since approximately 23 candidates are competing for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, each candidate must try to stand out from the pack. In that respect, former Texas Congressman Robert “Beto” O’Rourke is making a name for himself by doing things differently. First, O’Rourke rolled out his campaign on a local level, with a flurry of town hall appearances in places like Pacific Junction and Davenport, Iowa, rather than making a national splash with televised rallies in big cities and associated online fundraising.

Only lately, O’Rourke has made the shift to more national appearances, including a CNN town hall and an appearance on ABC‘s The View.” As O’Rourke stated on “The View” regarding his local campaigning thus far,

I learned so much by being with them, by listening to them, by incorporating their stories into how I’m campaigning. So, with months to go before the first caucus or the first primary, listening to people, showing up everywhere. With 20 candidates, these elections might be decided in these various states by a thousand, a hundred, a dozen votes, so every single one of these conversations counts. I’m going to continue to show up everywhere to ensure that we have them.