Campaigns & Elections
There has been long term and deep damage to Democratic support of Israel. You cannot fix that quickly. Netanyahu can play nice with Biden, but for most Democrats he is in the enemy camp.
[On long-term climate goals] That translates into something like a net zero carbon world by 2050. And to do that is going to require tremendous mobilization, a transformation to a clean energy economy, at speed and scale. And so when Biden talks about wanting to invest $2 trillion in the first four years for climate, about trying to get to a carbon-free electricity system by 2035, about net zero by 2050—all of those things make it clear that, at this point, he is thinking at the scale of what needs to be done and acted on, in a way that is very encouraging.
...Biden is on the [climate] program and can help lead other countries as well. The first step for the United States, internationally, will be to demonstrate that the United States is back on the program, back in Paris, and committed to the right things, because for the last four years, the world has seen the United States walk away.
[On sectoral climate action and the costs of inaction] It’s got to be a set of policies and actions that bring about fundamental change in power, transport, industry, buildings. The economic impact of this kind of move would be enormously positive. People think, “Oh, it’s going to cost so much. Oh, it’s going to be so hard.” On any kind of net basis, we will greatly improve the economy if we act aggressively. It’s absolutely going to cost money, but it’s going to cost less money than not acting.
[On U.S. public perceptions on climate change between 2015 and 2020] I don’t think the United States is so different—the administration is certainly different, because it’s a complete about-face. But there is still very broad support [for climate action] in the United States. There’s a belief in climate change, a belief in the need for action, and support for the Paris agreement. This is not so much a matter of the broad United States as it is a matter of the Trump administration.
