Trump slams other countries as 'filthy,' Biden pitches economic benefits of green energy plan
The final topic of the night was climate change with Welker first asking each candidate how he would combat climate change and support job growth at the same time as president. Trump answered first.
"So we have the trillion trees program. We have so many different programs. I do love the environment, but what I want is the cleanest, crystal clear water, the cleanest air," Trump said, taking credit for the country's reduced carbon emission last year.
He went on to slam other counties air-quality and tout the U.S. by comparison.
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"Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India. It's filthy. The air is filthy. The Paris Accord, I took us out because we were going to have to spend trillions of dollars, and we were treated very unfairly," Trump said, closing his two minutes by saying his administration has done an incredible job "environmentally."
When it was Biden's turn, he pivoted to the existential threat he says global warming poses to humanity and said the U.S. has a moral obligation to "deal with it" -- but said climate change also creates a prime opportunity for new jobs.
"Here's where we have a great opportunity. I was able to get both all the environmental organizations as well as labor, the people worried about jobs, to support my climate plan. Because what it does -- it will create millions of new good-paying jobs," Biden said. "Wall Street firms indicated that my plan -- my plan will, in fact, create 18.6 million jobs, 7 million more than his. This is from Wall Street. And I'll create $1 trillion more in economic growth than his proposal does. Not on climate, just on the economy."
Trump slammed Biden's response, claiming the former vice president's plan would cause a massive economic depression and deeming it a "pipe dream," before raising Biden's stance on fracking.
In the face of Trump's criticisms, Welker asked Biden directly, "Would you rule out banning fracking?"
"I do rule out banning fracking," Biden said. "We need other industries to transition to get to ultimately a complete zero emissions by 2025. What I will do with fracking over time is make sure 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. It's a transition to that."
"Excuse me," Trump interrupted. "He was against fracking. He said it. I will show that to you tomorrow."
"Fracking on federal land, I said," Biden responded. "No fracking and/or oil on federal land."