I have a close friend I grew up with that today works with big oil. I'm not exactly sure what company he works for but I know he supports Trump because he is afraid of losing his job if electric cars become a reality and big oil becomes bankrupt. I can totally understand his rationale. When we have discussed the election his feelings about Biden are moderate, he's not necessarily a MAGA guy but he severely struggles to listen and understand the whole instead of just the part as many Trump supporters also struggle with. He hears Biden wanting to get rid of big oil companies and petroleum and therefore he will no longer have a job. However, that is just part of the whole understanding. In Biden's plan he wants big oil companies to continue their work, not go bankrupt, keep their employees, and perhaps hire more if need be, but mainly just to push their R&D to work towards a cleaner future with the use of battery-powered vehicles. The point is not for hard-working Americans to lose their jobs AT ALL it's just to progress to new technologies. That is the world's technological manifest destiny! To secure safe, clean, and efficient ways to travel and it starts with people like my friend to become educated where they lack that knowledge of what is morally right for their future, their family's future, and for mother earth's future.
I heard about that fear as well and understand why people get scared when these things come up in Bidens plans. That is why it is so important to not just listen to the overall message and dig deeper on what the regulations really mean.
ReplyDeleteI think regardless of the president, in the long run, technology is going to take over work and physically working employees will have to learn how work these machines instead of doing the work themselves. I think we already talked about this issue two weeks ago.
I really like your last sentence, Stuart, because I think that is exactly the problem. To think about more than just your own world, and maybe being able to adjust to new things that can help the environment, as well as myself.
I think that the best way to get more support for Biden's plan is for there to be a transition path from oil to green energy, focusing on keeping those threatened jobs. There needs to be a way for that workforce to switch fields and either be re-trained for similar jobs or go through schooling, so they have the skills to make the transition. If their jobs aren’t on the line, they would be more likely to support the plan.
ReplyDelete"Investing in the future" is easy campaign rhetoric, but it's exactly what a successful society-wide transition to renewables will be.
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