Former Vice President Joe Biden admitted that he was ready to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of jobs to create a greener economy on Thursday.
Biden was questioned by moderator Tim Alberta during the PBS/Politico Democrat presidential debate on Thursday about his clean energy proposals.
“As president, would you be willing to sacrifice some of that growth, even knowing potentially that it could displace thousands or hundreds of thousands of blue-collar workers in the interest of transitioning to the greener economy?” Alberta asked.
“The answer is yes,” Biden said. “The answer is yes because the opportunity for those workers to transition to high paying jobs is real.”
Biden argued that the government could invest dramatically in making homes more energy-efficient and produce batteries to store energy.
He argued that more government spending and regulations could help transform the country into a cleaner energy future.
“We shouldn’t build another new highway in America that doesn’t have charging stations on it,” he said.
Biden said that Washington would have to explain to workers losing their jobs about the transition.
“We have to make sure that we explain it to those people who are displaced that their skills are going to be needed for the new opportunities,” he said.