2020 Dems propose spending trillions to fight climate change
WASHINGTON — In the span of 24 hours, five Democratic presidential candidates released sweeping plans to address climate change.
On Wednesday, California Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg each unveiled their climate plans. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Obama cabinet member Julian Castro each laid out theirs Tuesday.
The flurry of plans came ahead of a CNN town hall event Wednesday night on global warming, which 10 Democrats seeking the White House attended. The forums occurred after liberals had demanded that the Democratic Party focus at least one debate on climate change, but a climate debate resolution was defeated at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting last month.
Many Democrats see climate change as an urgent crisis. The issue is so urgent among Democratic voters that Washington Gov. 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 after failing to earn a spot in the September primary debate.
Since he abandoned his presidential bid, a number of candidates have embraced parts of the agenda he championed.
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. Harris also calls for the passage of the Climate Equity Act, a bill she introduced with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, which would require Congress to measure how potential environmental legislation would impact poorer communities.
Warren’s plan, which she released 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 says she will increase her planned spending on research and investment to cut carbon emissions to $3 trillion. She embraces tough deadlines for sharply cutting or eliminating the use of fossil fuels by the U.S. electrical grid, highways and air transit systems and by cities and towns. That includes making sure that new cars, buses and many trucks run on clean energy — instead of gasoline or diesel — by 2030 and that all the country’s electricity comes from solar, wind and other renewable, carbonfree sources by 2035.
Buttigieg’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. He also is calling for ending subsidies to the fossil fuel industry and closing public lands to new fossil leases.
Booker’s $3 trillion plan calls for getting 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.
Castro’s $10 trillion plan aims to have all electricity in the country be clean and renewable by 2035. He wants to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045 and at least a 50% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Nationally, 72% of Democratic midterm voters said they were concerned about the effects of climate change, and 20% were somewhat concerned. That’s according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 115,000 midterm voters nationwide.
Last month, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders released his $16 trillion plan to fight global warming, the costliest among the Democratic field. His plan declares climate change a national emergency.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has proposed $1.7 trillion in spending over 10 years, on clean energy and other initiatives with the goal of eliminating the country’s net carbon emissions by 2050.