DNC Coverage: Climate Change
“I’ll take it,” read one tweet posted immediately after Biden released his plan to address climate change and environmental justice. Although not going so far as to endorse the Green New Deal, Biden’s plan was a notable shift to the left from the plan he had proposed during the primaries. Indeed, back in December, the Sunrise Movement had given Biden’s original plan an F. Now after the announcement of Biden’s new $2 trillion climate plan, the youth-led organization, which has been pushing the Democratic Party on climate change and had endorsed Bernie Sanders for president, tweeted out its statement of support, noting that “our movement made this possible.”
Although Biden doesn’t necessarily have a young voter problem, the former vice president has been criticized for not generating a lot of youth energy for his campaign. Climate change might just be one of the issues that can change that. As Brady Dennis and Dino Grandoni write in the Washington Post: “By elevating climate, Biden is trying to channel the enthusiasm of voters who backed Sanders, as well as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and executive Tom Steyer, who made saving the planet a centerpiece of their failed primary campaigns.” Data for Progress argues that Biden can “united progressives and swing voters on a climate-change-based-agenda.”
Our issue tracker did pick up a notable uptick in social media discourse on climate change and the environment the week that Biden unveiled his proposal. Indeed, of his four planks in his economic recovery plan, this is the one that appears to have generated the most reactions on social media.
More recently, Biden tweeted the following:
Of the nearly 500 tweets that Biden has posted in 2020, it was third highest in terms of impact, defined by the estimated number of different individuals who have likely seen the content (e.g., number of retweets, replies, followers of retweeters, and followers of author).
Earlier this month, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of Americans about their issue priorities in the 2020 election. Less than 2 percent of self-identified Democrats named climate change and/or the environment as their top issue. Those who did tended to be younger: 18-29-year-olds were over twice as likely to prioritize climate change than those 30 and older.
Could these movements on social media be a sign that younger Democrats are becoming more engaged by Biden’s campaign? This week, we’ll ask such questions as we interrogate the online reactions during the DNC.
Student team members who contributed to this report include Savannah Charles, Kaley Gilbert, and Emma Hazeltine.