In the final presidential debate, Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden made a big statement about the oil industry, on Thursday night, October 22, at the Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
In answer to President Donald Trump's question, if he would close down the oil industry, Biden replied that he would transition from the oil industry to which Trump replied that it was a big statement.
NBC News's Kristen Welker, who moderated the final debate, asked Biden why he would do that; Biden said, "Because the oil industry pollutes significantly."
"Because it has to be replaced by renewable energy over time," continued Biden.
Biden also said that he would stop giving the oil industry federal subsidies and pointed out that Trump does not give federal subsidies to the solar industry.
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In a brief portion of the final presidential debate, Biden laid out his plans of fighting against climate change by investing in renewable energy sources such as the wind.
With Trump's frequent dismissal of science in solving the crisis, Biden said that the country would be in real trouble should Trump be given four more years at the White House.
Trump, however, said that he believed that the U.S. could not give up its dependence on fossil fuels.
The president told Biden that he knows more bout the wind than he does. Aside from being extremely expensive, Trump said that it kills all the birds, which drew a chuckle from Biden.
Biden claimed that climate change is an "existential threat" one that required an all-out response from the U.S. government.
Trump countered that constructing renewable-energy facilities would create more emissions than traditional fuels. The president added that Biden just wanted to mandate buildings to be built with tiny little windows.
Despite the stance that Biden took on climate change and environment protection, he denied that he would ban fracking even though he had done so, not just once but several times during Democratic primaries.
President Trump pointed this out, to which Biden clarified that he would ban fracking on federal land.
The former vice president clarified that he never said he would oppose it and instead said that "I do rule out banning fracking because the answer is we need other industries to transition to get a complete zero emissions by 2025."
Biden further added that "What I will do with fracking over time is make sure that we can capture the emissions from the fracking, capture the emissions from gas. We can do that, and we can do that by investing money. But it's a transition to that."
The recently concluded final presidential debate was a subtle affair than the first one held last September 29 at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
The second was canceled after Trump contracted COVID-19 and refused to debate in a virtual setting.
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