- Position‹2 of 3›
- Joe Biden will be better for the environment
Biden will use every tool of American foreign policy to push the rest of the world to raise their ambitions alongside the United States.
The argument
Climate change is a global challenge that requires decisive action from every country around the world. Joe Biden knows how to stand with America’s allies, stand up to adversaries, and level with any world leader about what must be done. He will not only recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change – he will go much further than that. He will lead an effort to get every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate targets. He will make sure those commitments are transparent and enforceable, and stop countries from cheating by using America’s economic leverage and power of example. He will fully integrate climate change into our foreign policy and national security strategies, as well as our approach to trade.
Premises
Counter-arguments
Critics reply that an internationalist climate approach is a stated intention whose environmental payoff is uncertain, since agreements like Paris are non-binding and depend on other countries' voluntary compliance, which US diplomacy cannot guarantee. Sceptics from the rival positions argue that re-entering global frameworks can substitute symbolism for domestic emissions cuts, and that "using economic leverage" to enforce others' targets is contested and hard to deliver. Some also contend that a candidate's environmental merit should be judged on concrete domestic policy and results rather than a diplomatic posture. On this view the international approach describes ambition, not a demonstrated environmental advantage.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1] Coordinated international action is desirable, but agreements like Paris are non-binding and depend on others' voluntary compliance, so re-joining does not guarantee lower global emissions. [Rejecting P2] Pledging to use leverage to enforce other countries' targets is contested and hard to deliver, so the stated plan may not translate into results. [Rejecting C] Because an international posture is an intention whose environmental payoff is uncertain, it does not by itself establish that Biden is better for the environment.