Biden Must Do Much More to Win Over Young Climate Voters

I turn 18 just in time for the 2024 election, and I know that the stakes are higher than ever. It’s not just a contest between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump; it’s a choice between the only person who can lead the U.S.’ much-needed energy transition and a criminal who’s promised to systematically dismantle environmental protections and our democracy.

As a climate activist the choice should be easy, but my peers aren’t jumping for joy at the prospect of casting a vote for Biden. While the Inflation Reduction Act was a step in the right direction, we’ve also witnessed a string of new oil and gas projects, watered-down language, and broken promises. Biden must do much more to win over young climate voters ahead of this year’s election, and he can start by keeping his promise to stop public money flowing into fossil fuels.

A record number of young people voted in the 2020 election, with as much as 10% increases in young voter turnout across key battleground states like Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia. This year, Harvard polling has predicted a lower level of youth turnout, which could be potentially fatal for the Biden-Harris administration. To win, Biden needs a strong turnout from young voters. The White House is now on an all-out offensive to charm young climate voters like me, recently setting up a TikTok page and inviting a group of young climate influencers to the White House.

Youth can help transform the Biden campaign into a powerful political movement, but we are not willing to compromise on the climate crisis.

Despite his efforts to connect with us, Biden’s climate hypocrisy is a line many of us aren’t willing to cross. Last year, Biden approved the Willow project, going directly against his promise to end fossil fuel projects on public land and water. This caused outrage in many youth circles.

The promise-breaking goes beyond Willow. In 2021, the Biden administration and 33 other governments signed up to the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, promising to end international public finance for fossil fuels by the end of 2022. But in the last year alone, the U.S. channeled almost $1 billion into new oil and gas, through the U.S. Export-Import Bank, EXIM. Next week, the EXIM board is voting on a major oil and project in Bahrain. If it is approved, at least $100 million U.S. tax dollars will go toward over 400 new oil wells, contrary to Biden’s fossil fuel pledges.

Export credit agencies like EXIM are government-owned institutions that provide financial services to large infrastructure projects around the world. They are also the world’s largest international public funders of fossil fuels. Each year, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries’ export credit agencies provide over $40 billion of public money to fossil fuels—five times their support for clean energy.

This must stop. With our planet and our democracy in the balance, President Biden needs to fund a just energy transition. It’s not an accident that the largest climate march since the pandemic took place in September last year—young people are fighting for better. To win the youth climate vote, Biden must end the flow of public money to fossil fuels, sending a clear statement to voters that he is the candidate who will stand up to fossil fuels, and stand up for our future. This will get the youth vote out much more than a 30-second TikTok ever could.

This week, the OECD is meeting in Paris to discuss groundbreaking proposals to stop export credit agency support for oil and gas. It’s one of Biden’s last chances to prove himself as a climate leader, and the U.S. will play a critical role. Biden can either support the proposals and put a stop to EXIM, or choose to continue plunging public money into coal, oil, and gas.

Youth can help transform the Biden campaign into a powerful political movement, but we are not willing to compromise on the climate crisis. Many of us grew up believing we would “one day” see the effects of climate change, but in the last year, my education has been stalled or stopped due to flooding and extreme smoke multiple times. I refuse to vote away my health, my community, and my safety.

Our democracy is incredibly fragile, deeply worth protecting, and impressively resilient, much like our planet. I will cast my first-ever vote for Joe Biden, but to get a record youth turnout he needs to do more. Next week, Biden has an opportunity to build momentum from his pause in new LNG permits and match his promises with action, ending the flow of U.S. public money into fossil fuels for good. In the meantime, I will continue to pressure Biden to listen to young people, because I refuse to choose between my future and my vote.