Bill McKibben: What A Biden Administration Could Mean For Environmental Policy

Election 2020 Debate — Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the second and final presidential debate Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., with President Donald Trump.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

October 29, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

At the second and final 2020 presidential debate last week, former Vice President Joe Biden stated his intention to "transition away from the oil industry." Environmentalist and journalist Bill McKibben spoke with Boston Public Radio on Thursday about what a Biden administration could look like, in terms of environmental policy.

"What's really important is Biden said out loud that we have to transition off oil, and there's not a scientist in the world who would disagree with that statement," he said. "Here's the important thing: If Biden wins next week, he wins having said that. That [statement] didn't take him down."

Biden's statement on the oil industry hasn't seemed to negatively change public opinion, McKibben noted. "It looks like even Texas remains in play in this election, which is astonishing," he said. "That's the crucuial moment — he'll be able to govern having said that and taken that stand."