Biden's first 100 days give Samo students hope
By Juliet Swimmer, Copy Editor
Concerning aiding the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden has provided economic relief to individuals, families, small businesses, state, local, tribal and territorial governments, promoting safety while traveling and implementing a federal workforce mandate that requires mask wearing while working on federal property. Along with expanding access to care and treatments for COVID-19, he established the COVID-19 pandemic testing board to implement a national testing system to maximize testing and ensure a data-driven response to COVID-19. He intends to make getting students back into school one of his top priorities. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has published on their website the steps they are taking to help get kids back in school and the importance of it.
Another promise Biden made to the public was to help combat climate change. So far, he has rejoined the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement, a conference involving 195 countries around the world to figure out the most sustainable actions their countries can take on. Along with rejoining those organizations, Biden signed an executive order to protect the environment and the public's health with clear air and water, using science to tackle the climate crisis. By this executive action, Biden is mandating that every government agency review and take action to immediately address and commence work to confront the climate crisis. These actions may have been majorly influenced by enormous youth engagement through social media and protests. Samo sophomore Ava Lowe (’23) has been engaged with the urgency of climate change legislation and is enthused with Biden’s newest climate related executive orders.
“I think his proposals are great. The fact that he sees there is an issue with climate change and is able to act on it is great. I think youth activism definitely sparked a huge part of it but also I think he understands as a person how detrimental climate change really is,” Lowe said.
Areianaz Eghbali (’21) is from Team Marine, a environmental focused club at Samo which works to promote sustainability within our community and to educate students with science on environmental issues, and thinks that Biden’s work on climate change is long overdue.
“The United States is the most powerful nation in the world and having Trump and his anti environmental policies rule our country for 4 years was a big setback on the environmental front. Fortunately, Biden has made it clear from day one that the fight against climate change is a pressing issue in his administration; in his short time in office, he has not only reversed many of Trump's poorly made decisions that unreasonably favored economic growth above everything else, but he has also appointed people to his team who also understand the urgency of the situation,” Eghbali said.
Another proposal by the Biden administration is to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Samo students believe this would greatly benefit many who are now joining the workforce. The federal minimum wage hasn't been changed in seven years. Sara Melamed (’22) recently joined the workforce and is enthusiastic about the new potential legislation.
“I think it’s great because so many people especially teens have so much they need to afford like college and paying for expenses that it gives them a chance to afford more. Parents who work minimum wage jobs could also have a chance to provide more for their households so it really can help everyone,” Melamed said .
Samo students are hopeful about the actions Biden has taken to combat climate change and create policies that impact the youth population of America.
