Democrats pledge to fight climate change
WASHINGTON: Five Democratic presidential candidates in the span of 24 hours have released sweeping plans to address climate change, ahead of a series of town halls devoted to the issue.
On Wednesday, California Senator Kamala Harris and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg each unveiled their climate plans.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Massachusets Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Obama cabinet member Julián Castro each laid out theirs on Tuesday.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee made action to limit the worst extremes of climate change the core of his presidential bid. But Inslee dropped out of the presidential race in August ater failing to earn a spot in the September primary debate.
Harris is embracing a “climate pollution fee,” designed to drive down pollution while increasing government revenue.
Her $10 trillion plan includes proposals supported by her Democratic rivals.
She calls on the United States to achieve a clean economy by 2045 and to reach the goal of 100 per cent carbon-neutral electricity by 2030.
She says she will end fossil fuel production on public lands and end federal subsidies for fossil fuels.
Harris also calls for the passage of the Climate Equity Act. Warren’s plan, which she released on Tuesday night, embraces the 10-year clean energy plan that Inslee ran on.
Warren said Inslee’s ideas “should remain at the center of the agenda,” and she met with him in Seatle when she visited Washington state for a rally before Labor Day, according to two people familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
She says she will increase her planned spending on research and investment to cut carbon emissions to $3 trillion.
Butigieg’s $1.1 trillion climate change plan has a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and creating more than 3 million clean infrastructure jobs in the next decade. Like other Democrats, Butigieg would renew the country’s commitment to the Paris climate agreement.
Booker’s $3 trillion plan calls for geting the U.S. economy to carbon neutral no later than 2045. He also is calling for the creation of a “United States Environmental Justice Fund,” which, among its areas of focus, would replace all home, school and day care drinking water lines by the end of his second term.