Experts say election brings new stakes to Earth Day | KLRT [Video]

This fall’s election has major implications for America’s role in the fight against climate change.

The two White House candidates, President Biden and former President Trump, are worlds apart on global warming, and, as Earth Day arrives Monday, climate advocates warn that a second Trump administration could have dire consequences for the planet.

“The difference between those two presidencies couldn’t be more stark,” said Pete Maysmith, senior vice president of campaigns at the League of Conservation Voters, which has endorsed Biden. 

“It’s continuing to make progress and tackling the climate crisis,” Maysmith said, versus “unraveling progress.”

The U.S. is currently the country with the second-most emissions in the world, behind only China, making its policies key to limiting them. 

Man-made activity has driven planetary warming since the industrial revolution — when many national economies became largely based on coal. Since then, the Earth’s average surface temperature has already warmed by …