Commentary: Joe Biden’s Green New Deal, a Bad Deal for the Great Lakes State

by Terry Bowman

 

Michigan’s auto pioneers cemented their historical reputations by making Detroit the home of the American dream. Now in 2020, Joe Biden wants to adopt a radical climate agenda that would eliminate fossil fuels and decimate Michigan’s auto industry. It seems Joe Biden’s dream would be a nightmare to Michiganders.

Worst of all, Joe Biden is proud of it—stating that the Green New Deal is a “crucial framework” of a Biden-Harris administration. Yet suddenly last week during the Presidential debate, Joe Biden flip-flopped, stating he does not support the Green New Deal— the past year shows a different story, however.

Just last summer during the 2019 Democrat Debate at Fox theater here in Detroit, Joe Biden proudly said that he would make sure fossil fuels are “eliminated.” Reminder for Joe Biden: more than 98 percent of all vehicles sold in 2019 run on fossil fuels, a number not expected to change dramatically anytime soon.

While our economy has diversified following the painful Great Recession under former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Michigan is still the center of the automotive world. More than 122,000 Michiganders work in automotive manufacturing alone, and that does not include the millions of others in the auto industry, including engineers, technicians, and support staff. Simply put, the auto industry is connected in some way to nearly every Michigan family, and destroying it would shatter more than just jobs, but Michigan as we know it.

Our cherished auto industry would not be the only thing impacted here in Michigan though, as energy costs would skyrocket. Families in Northern Michigan would be forced to find alternatives to heat their homes, and the 182,000 Michiganders who work in the fossil fuel industry directly would be without jobs, ending any chance for Michigan’s prosperous future.

Joe Biden’s message for Michiganders is simple; vote for me, and I’ll make sure to eliminate your job and your healthcare plan that your union negotiated for you.

Even in the face of a global pandemic, Biden refuses to let the coronavirus crisis go to waste, and he’s not hiding that from you either. Biden told CNN that the coronavirus pandemic is an “opportunity” to “fundamentally change the science relating to global warming.” Biden also said this spring that the coronavirus crisis is an “opportunity” to include his Green New Deal agenda into the coronavirus relief legislation.

Just a refresher on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, who is a member of Biden’s climate advisory panel, a policy he desperately wants to adopt: It would cost the average Michigander nearly $75,000 in the first year alone (more than the median Michigan income of $54,938), eliminate fossil fuels entirely, take away your right to eat meat, somehow eliminate cow farts, and cost the country nearly $100 trillion.

Somehow amidst all this frightening mess, UAW executives abandoned all pretense of representing what is best for workers and crammed an endorsement of Biden down the throats of autoworkers.

While Joe Biden tries to eliminate any Michigan manufacturing job he can find, President Trump is working hard to protect Michiganders. Since taking office, President Trump has delivered on his promises, negotiating new trade deals like Phase One of the China Trade Deal, and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaces the disastrous North American Free Trade Agreement that Joe Biden himself helped pass.

Instead of trying to politicize coronavirus and push radical policies, President Trump has led an unprecedented response that radically increased testing capacity, mobilized the private sector, protected workers’ paychecks, and set up for the Great American Comeback.

Joe Biden’s feelings about autoworkers are very clear. In March, he told a union member in Detroit that he was “full of sh*t.” Now, with his promised radical climate agenda, Joe is working hard to eliminate our livelihoods.  In essence, Joe Biden sees autoworkers and the automotive industry as the enemy of the people.

When November 3rd comes around, I know how the vast majority of autoworkers will vote. Together, we will proudly ignore Joe Biden’s disastrous Green New Deal and instead support four more years of President Trump’s record of Promises Made, Promises Kept.

After all; we deserve it.

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Terry Bowman is the chairman of Workers for Trump as well as co-chairman of the Republican Party of Michigan.
Photo “Joe Biden” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Green New Deal Supporters” by Becker1999. CC BY 2.0.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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