Joe Biden took a political risk on Thursday during his debate with Donald Trump by assuming that he wanted to turn away from the oil industry, on which the economy of several key states for the US presidential election largely depends.
"
I will gradually turn away from the oil industry, yes,
" the Democratic candidate for the White House clearly said.
"
I will stop because the oil industry pollutes considerably
", he insisted, stressing that the latter had to be "
replaced over time by renewable energies
".
Read also: Trump vs Biden: their revenues and expenses to revive America
"
It's a hell of a statement,
" replied Donald Trump, calling voters from several industrial states to witness.
“
It is destroying the oil industry.
Will you remember it in Texas?
Will you remember it in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Ohio?
“Asked the president.
The former New York businessman called
his opponent's environmental plan an “
economic disaster
”.
Democrats "
want to destroy buildings so that they can reduce the size of the windows,
" he said.
"
If it were up to them, there wouldn't even be any windows at all
."
Donald Trump has also accused wind energy of being "
extremely expensive
" and "
very intermittent
", and of "
killing all birds
".
He also denounced his opponent's hostility to shale gas, an industry on which many jobs in Pennsylvania depend, a pivotal state that the two candidates bitterly compete for.
Pennsylvania-born Joe Biden reiterated that he did not plan to ban shale gas development, only to block the issuance of new permits on state-owned land.
Climate change is "
an existential threat to humanity,
" he warned.
"
We have a moral obligation to take care of it
."
The former US vice-president had already pledged, in the event of a victory on November 3 at the polls, that the United States would join the Paris climate agreement as quickly as possible.
Donald Trump withdrew his country, which he felt was being treated unfairly compared to other polluting countries.
“
Look how disgusting it is in China.
Look at Russia, look at India.
It's disgusting.
The air is disgusting,
”he denounced Thursday evening.
Read also: A rather flattering economic record for Trump ... and then came the pandemic
Asked about these words, a spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy chose irony on Friday.
“
I don't know if you noticed but the sky is azure blue today,
” Zhao Lijian said, speaking to reporters in Beijing.
“
The American elections do not interest us.
We would like the United States to stop involving China in their election campaigns
, ”he added.
China has overtaken the United States as the world's largest polluter.
But Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged last month that his country would start cutting CO2 emissions before 2030, an announcement that several environmental organizations have found encouraging.
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