BY MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA |
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“He’s tall and handsome... even liberal people like him.”
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Republicans hate Joe Biden’s landmark climate policy — even though their districts have benefitted the most from it. Pointing out that irony will be key to battling Donald Trump over the next four years, Democratic lawmakers tell What A Day.
- The Inflation Reduction Act isn’t the sexiest (or most descriptive) name for a historic piece of climate legislation, nor have its major successes been the easiest thing for the Biden administration to communicate in the two years since it passed. But the bill is the largest investment ever made by the government to transition away from fossil fuels — making it cheaper for Americans to buy electric vehicles and green energy products for their homes, pushing companies to invest in clean energy via tax incentives — and the crowning achievement during President Joe Biden’s time in office. It also addresses other issues like lowering prescription drug prices, while creating an estimated 1 million jobs per year. Yes, like lots of big pieces of legislation (looking at you, tax cuts for the rich), it comes with a hefty price tag. But overall, the law seems pretty good, right?
- “Wrong!” is what literally all GOP lawmakers would shout right now. Every Republican in the Senate and the House voted against the legislation. Every single one! Good policy doesn’t discriminate against its haters, though. Districts that voted for President-elect Donald Trump in 2020 have received three times as much investment ($165 billion) toward clean energy and manufacturing than those that voted for Biden ($54 billion), according to a recent Washington Post analysis.
- It doesn’t matter in MAGAworld. Trump has run on the slogan to “drill, baby, drill” and a promise to “terminate” the climate law, which he calls the “Green New Scam.” He can’t actually take back all the money that Biden has already spent, but it’s possible that he could rescind unspent funds and push for policies that harm the environment. Democrats will have to fight tooth-and-nail to defend against attempts to roll back Biden’s climate progress, said Representative-elect Yassamin Ansari, a climate activist from Arizona who will begin her first term in Congress next year.
“When the funding was coming to their districts, [Republicans] were touting it as something that they secured and as an accomplishment,” Ansari told What A Day during a phone call.
- “There needs to be a massive public pressure campaign … to communicate with Americans about the benefits that they are seeing in their communities, and continue to talk about how great these investments are — that they're improving their daily lives, and people can see that in their neighborhoods,” Ansari added.
- In the Senate, Democrats plan to push a similar message: “We have a strategy especially to make it clear that if you want to cut these clean energy tax credits, you are shutting down factories, you are raising the price of energy, and you're doing it to your own home state,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), one of the most prominent lawmakers leading the fight against climate change, told What a Day in a call this afternoon.
- Ansari knows a thing or two about crafting effective policy. Nine years ago, she worked at the United Nations to help create the Paris climate agreement, the worldwide effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions and keep global warming at bay. Trump, of course, pulled out of the deal in his first term, inspiring Ansari to become a politician. Now, he’s promising to pull out again, and his pick for energy secretary even thinks climate change might actually be good: “It’s probably almost as many positive changes as there are negative changes,” oil baron Chris Wright said last year. “Is it a crisis, is it the world’s greatest challenge, or a big threat to the next generation? No.”
- While Republicans control all three branches of government, there’s still work that can be done, Ansari said. As a city council member in Phoenix, she successfully advocated for the use of electric buses citywide. Climate progress on a local level can have a real impact, she said, arguing that “even if we’re not formally in the Paris climate agreement, we are working toward the same level of ambition that is there.” Supporting your local politician who supports climate initiatives is a good step, she added.
Check out this explainer from Crooked Ideas, which helped me understand how the Inflation Reduction Act could actually improve your everyday life — while also shifting America toward a greener future.
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Democrats have been divided over how to react to the news about the slaying of a UnitedHealthcare CEO in New York City. Is murder ever justifiable, or even understandable, especially when millions of people have been denied much-needed health insurance coverage?
The answer is clear to Sen. Brian Schatz: No way.
“I have views about health care, and I have views about murder, but I'm not going to use a murder as an opportunity to pivot into my views about health care. This is not the way to precipitate a conversation about health care,” Schatz said in our phone call.
Yesterday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), an outspoken critic of the corporate health insurance industry, walked back her comment on the matter after saying “people can only be pushed so far.”
“Violence is never the answer. Period,” she told POLITICO. “I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also said he’s opposed to using violence to address the issue. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said that the shooting isn’t justifiable, but people who are denied claims sometimes view that “as an act of violence against them. ( Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of the killing, wasn’t a client of the health insurance company, according to investigators. His manifesto does mention the company, though.)
Schatz doesn’t see any daylight on the issue: “Count me in for any aggressive overhaul of the American health care system. Count me out if the beginning of that conversation is ‘murder is bad, but you can see where he was coming from.’”
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Noted brainworm survivor and Health and Human Services secretary nominee Robert F Kennedy Jr. and his long-serving antivaxx lawyer petitioned the FDA to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine — you know, the thing that all but eradicated polio for half a century until falling rates of vaccination recently began to allow for its reemergence. Just to remind everyone, an unvaccinated man in New York became paralyzed after contracting polio two years ago.
Fox News host Pete Hegseth now says he supports gay people joining the military, after he called the idea “Marxist” in one of his books that was released six months ago. This is the same guy Donald Trump wants to lead the largest military on Earth. Do defense secretaries need to be decisive? Do we think he will revert to his true beliefs once confirmed? Only time will tell!
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Critics are calling Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD, “riveting, thought-provoking, and essential listening.” Haven’t started it yet? Now’s the perfect time. Hailed by Vulture as “not just an expose, but a call to action,”- in just eight episodes, Empire City takes you back to the origins of the NYPD and completely reframes the way we think about policing today. Listen to the series now, wherever you get your podcasts — or binge all episodes ad-free on Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts.
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You know things are relatively chill in your country when you’re arguing over… sandwiches. The food fight started when U.K. conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told an outlet that “lunch is for wimps … I’m not a sandwich person, I don’t think sandwiches are a real food.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office lashed back, saying that lunch is “a great British institution” and that Starmer enjoys a “tuna sandwich, and occasionally a cheese toastie.” Taste!
Neanderthals and humans likely hung out together during a short period of time 45,000 years ago, researchers found after analyzing genes from the era. Even the neanderthals and humans could get along? Social media has ruined everything smh.
Our Pet Fridays series continues: “Meet Munch. She's one of our 11 chickens but she doesn't really care for her flock-mates. She's the dumbest chicken and I love her so much!” Teresa writes.
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