Those of us concerned about the imminent climate crisis are justifiably gravely concerned about the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House.
Such an eventuality would almost certainly be the last nail in the climate coffin and set humanity on an irreversible path to a massive die-off.
It is for this reason that President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address gave us hope. Hope that Biden does have the potential to be the winner in November’s presidential election after all.
Leading up to the State of the Union address, Biden supporters knew that any stumble, misstep, or under-performance by the President could be catastrophic, given Trump’s continuing portrayal of him as weak and in cognitive decline. Trump’s fairy tale was systematically demolished by Biden’s powerful, energy-filled, and inspiring State of the Union address – a speech which lasted well over an hour.
Not surprisingly, reactions to the speech in the United States generally differed along party lines. Significantly, confidence in Biden’s ability to carry out his duties as president rose among political independents from 51% before the speech to 68% after.
Reactions across key states remained generally partisan, although fears about Biden’s age and capacity seemed to be allayed for at least some voters.
International reactions mainly focused on his policy statements, although positive comments were certainly made about the energy of his speech. The Atlantic Council and BBC correspondents posted analyses of many the issues he touched on. Semafor Media touched on international press reactions. What was most common was that media and commentators around the world paid significant attention to the tone of what the Guardian characterized as Biden’s “feisty State of the Union address.”
As of March 12th, both Biden and Trump have won enough delegates in their respective parties to secure their nominations as presidential candidates. There is now no doubt that they will once again run against each other.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the large segment of American voters who are undecided and will determine who comes out on top feel the same way about Biden’s speech as I do.
Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (April 8, 2024): 425.67ppm
One year ago (April 8, 2023): 422.04ppm
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