Afterword: President Biden's Urgent Opportunity

• Author: Franklin L. Kury
• Pages: 129-135

129

Afterword: President Biden’s

Urgent Opportunity1

In the presidential election of November 3, 2020, the American peo-

ple elected as president Joseph R. Biden, Jr. ey did not, however, as

expected, give control of both the United States House of Representatives

and the United States Senate to Biden’s Democratic Party. As this Af terword

goes to press, so to speak, control of the Senate will not be determined unti l

the results of runo elections for the two Senate seats in Georgia are known

in January 2021. e House stayed in Democratic hands, but with eight

fewer seats, a 203 to 188 margin. is was nonetheless a critical t urning point

in the eorts to stop climate change. A president who denied climate science

has been replaced by a president who has strong commitments to science-

based programs for dealing with the climate crisis.

President-elect Biden has pledged to deal with four major national crises:

1. e coronavirus pandemic;

2. Economic recovery;

3. Climate change; and

4. R acial justice.

Dealing successfully with these crises will be ext raordinarily challenging.

President Biden will be governing a badly divided nation. Biden received

about 81.3 million votes to Trump’s 74.2 million. Yet Trump received more

votes in losing in 2020 than he did in winning 2016. And he has 88 million

social media followers.

is gives Trump the potential to be a major opposition force for the dura-

tion of Biden’s presidency.2

Biden may be able to negotiate and deal with Senator Mitch McConnell in

the United States Senate, but he will not likely be able to do so with Trump.

1. Author’s note: is Afterword is written two months after completing the manuscript and a week

after the presidential election of November 3, 2020. It is written because the president has enormous

power to act against climate change. e winner of the presidential election determines the direction

the United States will take on climate change for the next four years.

2. See Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, “Win or Lose, Trump’s Clout Will Not Fade,” New York

Times, November 5, 2020, 1.