r/Political_Revolution • u/Projectrage • Aug 19 '20
Environment Democrats Quietly Cut Opposition to Fossil Fuel Subsidies From DNC Platform
https://earther.gizmodo.com/democrats-quietly-cut-opposition-to-fossil-fuel-subsidi-184476817238
u/Projectrage Aug 19 '20
From article...
While 29 other pages of amendments and changes were added to the final version of the party platform, from simple phrases to whole paragraphs, this one sentence is conspicuously absent. Collin Rees, a campaigner with Oil Change U.S. who was among those who lobbied for the language, said in an email this was the “main win we had on fossil fuels.” Now, it’s gone from the platform being voted on at this week’s virtual Democratic National Convention.
“The amendment in question was incorrectly included in the manager’s mark,” a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee said in an email. “After the error was discovered, both the Biden campaign and Sanders campaign, along with those who submitted the amendment, agreed to withdraw the amendment from consideration.”
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Aug 19 '20
After the error was discovered.... awe they got caught sneaking it in.
Quick we got caught because people are paying attention... Just pull a Hillary... claim we didn’t know!
Problem solved... nothing to see here folks!
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u/yargdpirate Aug 19 '20
The official Democrat website still has this in the platform with minor rewrites:
Democrats believe the tax code must reflect our commitment to a clean energy future by eliminating special tax breaks and subsidies for fossil fuel companies as well as defending and extending tax incentives for energy efficiency and clean energy.
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u/splashattack Aug 19 '20
Notice how they changed the language from 'support' to 'believe' and now it is 'special' tax breaks.
Fast forward to when they have power. Gee what do you know, 100% of the tax breaks were deemed essential.
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u/Zankeru Aug 19 '20
Progressives were trying to tell everyone in the primary that biden will flip on every anti-establishment policy after he is elected. The only surprise is that he didnt even wait that long to start.
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u/anchorwind Aug 19 '20
(points) what are you going to do? vote Trump?!
One battle at a time.
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u/Zankeru Aug 19 '20
Nope, third party. I wont ever vote for someone who lies for political and personal gain, gets caught and apologizes, and does it again. If you dont have basic integrity then you dont belong in a leadership position. People sacrificing their standards for representatives to vote for the lesser evil is why the govt is full of corporate lapdogs who dont care about whats best for the country. Nobody is going to care about your opinion if they know they get your vote by default.
If people still vote for trump then we deserve to all burn as an example to future humanity on how important educating your populace is for a democracy.
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u/anchorwind Aug 19 '20
Sincere Questions:
a) who is your person that isn't doing things for political gain?
b) more importantly - knowing that 3rd parties have zero chance, and actually are votes cast in spite - am I to understand you want the authoritarian right to continue to dismantle what's left of america?
Before you try to both-sides this, I understand corporate democrats aren't great but it's like asking right now do you want an irritating home ownership association or siberian gulag.
Is the ultimate goal to shift the window left, to take on corporate interests, et al., yes. Can you worry about storming berlin when you're fighting in france? No.
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u/Zankeru Aug 19 '20
Doing things for political gain is fine. Intentionally lying to the public for political gain is not.
Ahhh yes, the old "your vote for this person is really a vote for this other person". I'm voting third party because its the best choice left in my opinion. Thats what you are supposed to do, vote for who you think is best for the job. Nice strawman though.
The last forty years have been dominated by corporate moderates taking control of the democratic party while actively attacking any progressive/pro worker canidates at every level. All the while saying that the far right is too dangerous to risk winning, so you need to fall in line and vote progressive next time. Trump is just the latest in a decades long line of examples.
The media are already blaming progressives for a possible biden loss. If they are trying to build a coalition to defeat hitler 2.0 then why are the shunning progressives? Why did they refuse to allow the young turks network acess to the DNC? A prominent progressive media outlet that is actively pushing the same message you are in support of biden. Why is pelosi supporting the primary opponent of AoC, one of the top five most popular democrats in the country and the largest fundraiser in the party, while she is out campaigning for biden?
The big secret is that the dem moderate elite dont care about beating trump or the far right if that means they have to let progressives gain influence to do it.
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u/hogfl Aug 19 '20 edited Aug 19 '20
Vote green or they will never learn. But also, US oil production can not stand on its own feet without the subsidies. I guess they do not have the stomach to kill an industry even if it is the right thing to do.
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u/ru2bgood Aug 19 '20
They need the oil for the military, but that's never stated directly. There should be a separation of oil production for war ("subsidies") and commercial use ( non-subsidized).
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u/Ronv5151 Aug 19 '20
Their day is coming too. After DT is gone, those who committed crimes in the last four years are charged, we are going after those who brought us DT and Biden. NO MORE CORPORATE CONTROL
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u/ttystikk Aug 19 '20
It's time to stop voting for parties that don't represent us. Vote Green Party!
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u/Projectrage Aug 19 '20
There is also the people’s party.
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u/nawlzdylan Aug 19 '20
Is there even a chance? I would rather sacrifice a vote to make sure Trump isn't in office.
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u/ttystikk Aug 20 '20
Why? The main difference between the started goals of Republicons vs Deceptocrats is that Trump is more crass- and that's getting people mad enough to actually get the fuck off the couch and get involved, which is a long overdue GOOD THING.
Biden would put this country back to sleep while they keep doing the same shit they've always done.
The Ratchet Effect; the Republicons pulls the country towards authoritarianism, Fascism and extreme inequality- and the Deceptocrats prevent any possible movement to the Left. That makes them both equally responsible for the current situation and it's time to stop voting for them.
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u/nawlzdylan Aug 20 '20
So if Trump is in office again, and they're both equally responsible, what next?
What I figured would happen is Biden gets elected, I don't know many people that actually like Biden so we would be keeping a close eye on things and the protests and involvement would still happen. Hopefully our possible future president actually listens to us. I also read that if Trump wins the Supreme court will be able to gain another republican? Am I completely wrong about that? That would make him be able to pass more shitty things? Is Biden really that bad of a placement holder until we can get.someone better next time?
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u/ttystikk Aug 20 '20
The basic problem with this logic is that Americans have already been waiting for half a century for someone better to come along; if voting for the lesser of two evils was going to work, I think it's had plenty of time.
The SCOTUS argument is a red herring; the Deceptocrats don't nominate judges that stand for our rights, especially when it comes to voting rights and corporate power.
The only time We the People hold power over our President is BEFORE we vote for them. Afterwards it's too late.
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u/nawlzdylan Aug 20 '20
But... Trump. Ugh.
I see what your saying, but holy crap he is such a horrible person.
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u/ttystikk Aug 20 '20
Frankly, so is Joe Biden. He wants to cut social security and has for 30 years. He was instrumental in the crime bill of 1996 that more than tripled the prison population, you know, those places Kamala Harris didn't want to let anyone out of, whether they're innocent or not.
I could go on all day.
I'm voting Green Party this year because their platform is full of things I want.
The Deceptocratic Convention features Republican keynote speakers. Just how much more blatant do you want that middle finger up your ass?
It's time to stop voting for people because the other one is worse. We DO have a choice and it's high time we exercised it.
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u/nawlzdylan Aug 20 '20
Fuckkkkk. This sucks so much. But thank you for your all your explanations, I learned a lot. Have a ton more learning to do.
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u/ttystikk Aug 20 '20
They're not running anyone. Rally for them, sure- but the Greens are on the ballot. Vote for them.
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u/ChewyPandaPoo Aug 19 '20
But the Dems can do anything they want,what are you going to do vote trump or 3rd party,yeah theyre teeing up that excuse as we speak just in case joe loses. Its crazy that the left think theyre going to be able to push Biden on anything.
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u/fuzzylilbunnies Aug 20 '20
Hahaha! This is not a sovereign nation. This is a business. Anyone who believes otherwise, seriously are you even paying attention? Look at how it’s run. Look at who gets elected. Look at Trump, and now our only hope against the tragedy of his presidency is another doddering ancient white man who has literally flip flopped his way through politics for 40 plus years. This is just business as usual. They don’t care about people, we are only numbers to them. We are to be fed upon. That’s the business.
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u/Frosti11icus Aug 19 '20
Biden and Harris both favor ending subsidies for dirty energy and not just in the U.S. Biden’s climate plan calls for a “worldwide ban on fossil fuel subsidies,” going on to say (emphasis added), “There is simply no excuse for subsidizing fossil fuel, either in the United States or around the world.” Biden has also endorsed extending tax credits for businesses that go low- or no-carbon and bringing back electric vehicle tax credits, something the DNC apparently didn’t want in its platform.
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Aug 19 '20
His plan calls for screwing us over. They both favor lying to their voters to get elected.
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u/wuethar Aug 19 '20 edited Aug 19 '20
As I was reading this article, wondering how I could communicate how unacceptable this is to the DNC, I got a text from a DNC volunteer asking if I would attend a virtual watch party of Biden's nomination.
Let's just say I had a pretty colorful response to that request.
EDIT: the guy responded, said he checked and it was an error, with the proper version having been restored and now viewable online.
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Aug 19 '20
The democrats are quite literally the American branch of the Tory party.
The GOP is the BNP.
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u/I-still-want-Bernie Aug 20 '20
The Green Party stands firm against Big Oil. Ralph Nader is right. Vote Green and take a stand against the uniparty.
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u/justthatguyTy Aug 19 '20
Didn't they come out and state that cutting it was a clerical mistake and it is still included?
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u/chthonodynamis Aug 19 '20
Ok, this is going to be an unpopular opinion so I'll just mention I've worked in renewable energy for over a decade and think we need to get off Fossil Fuels ASAP
However, I also understand that right now without intervention these companies (that still supply ~66% of all US energy) will collapse. The knock on effects of that would be devastating to the CoVid & Economic recovery.
Unfortunately without a functioning economy we won't have the necessary investment available to support the transition to renewables
As much as I dislike it, this is the right thing to do in the short term to support the continued recovery & transition efforts.
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Aug 19 '20
You’re right it’s unpopular...
I’ll say something you won’t like too... the economy is failing because of unfettered greed, corruption, and failed capitalism.
Switching to green energy would do more to bolster the economy and the environment... sadly AOC and Bernie got pushed aside so Biden can shill for a dying industry.
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u/chthonodynamis Aug 19 '20
I don't disagree with you about why the economy is failing...
However Biden isn't ignoring the issue at all
Biden has a Net Zero goal by 2035, which is incredibly ambitious when you consider what that would actually entail (Investment on the level of the Green New Deal)
I expect the majority of funds and investment will go to green energy, but we have 15 years to bring that 66% number down to 0% (consider it's taken over 100 years for the last energy transition to fully take place).
All I'm saying is we can't have the country collapse while we're building new infrastructure.
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Aug 19 '20
Why not just endorse the Green New Deal?
A plan for 2035 isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on... I say the same thing if the Green New Deal.
My point is... why alienate progressives by proposing his own alternative plan if all plans are just promises?
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u/robieman Aug 19 '20
A plan for 2035 isn't worth the paper it's written on? Why, because that plan is designed to take longer than our American attention spans? Long term goals are critical to long term projects, and Climate Change reversal is a long term project.
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Aug 19 '20
Because the number of variables between now and then are infinite.
Also it’s easy to promise things you don’t have to act on for 4 presidential terms. From that perspective, any plan longer than 1-2 terms is falsely optimistic.
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u/robieman Aug 19 '20
The number of variables between January 20th and eight years from then are infinite too. Mount Saint Helens could erupt and kill a third of the US, it doesn't mean a goal designed for those 8 years isn't realistic or a false goal, it just means it was interrupted by something far more deserving of the American governments attention. This long term goal would be reflected in how Biden chooses his advisors and other employees, and in general it will direct how the process of reversing climate change takes place.
Other nations have set these same goals up, with similar political processes, and they are slowly moving towards those long term goals as expected.
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u/chthonodynamis Aug 19 '20
Couple of points:
A) Neither Biden's Net Zero, nor the Green New Deal are fully fleshed out policies. At this point politicians and candidates are talking about what they aspire to acheive. If either Biden or some more progressive candidate is elected, the actual details and implementation of that will go through numerous iterations with input from experts and stakeholders.
B) I think people are getting an "all or nothing" mentality with regards to politics these days. If Biden's plan is 90% similar to the Green Deal for example that's no reason to feel alienated or pushed out. I recommend you look into the amount of input that AOC, Bernie, and Jay Inslee had on Biden's plans and legislation.
C) Your main question "Why not just endorse the Green New Deal" - It's been the target of a lot of criticism, some of it justified, in part because it's such a radical departure of the status quo. However it also has some real legitimate errors that makes some of it impossible to implement. Going back to my first point, the Green New Deal isn't a complete design that's been given the proper vetting. It's an aspiration that's gotten a lot of people excited for the future. The worst thing a serious Presidential candidate can do is promise something that they can't deliver, so Biden is trying to be a bit more realistic in his goals.
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Aug 19 '20
You criticize the New Deal being unrealistic and aggressive and so not worth voting for out of the gate.
You don’t criticize Biden’s plan for requiring 15 years... 4 terms even though that’s super unrealistic.
You state that I need to support Biden because unity is more important and will save the environment, but don’t hold Biden to that principle when he opposes the Green New Deal.
Yet you’re OK with Biden dividing democrats on the Green New Deal when he should have supported it because anything more than 4 years out is smoke and mirrors. Which you expect me to take as a solid realistic plan on promises alone.
So which is it? Unity? Or a realistic plan?
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u/chthonodynamis Aug 19 '20
The Green New Deal overarching goal is Net Zero by 2030. No matter what plan we do it's impossible to accomplish it all in four years.
I think most people don't really understand what is involved in this transition. Literally every industry will be effected, we will need to rebuild the entire US energy grid, we will need to invent and deploy millions of solutions at all areas of our economy.
At the end of the day, Unity (among ALL Americans, even those we disagree with) is the only realistic solution. Republicans and Progressives, and everyone will need to compromise.
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Aug 19 '20
I wish the DNC practiced what you preach. Alienating progressives then framing unity and compromise a moral obligation is despicable.
When we get a DNC that practices unity and compromise with progressives from neoliberals... I’m in.
Until then... a vote for Biden is a vote for double standards. Hard pass.
There’s a proverb about fixing your own house before chastising the neighbor... Biden and the DNC are my house... cleanup is first item on agenda.
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u/alphadraon86 Aug 19 '20
Money and lobbying has no place in politics and this why