An updated guide to the Democratic party nominees’ climate plans
This updated guide will feature the seven candidates who have made it to the December 19 Democratic Debate. The criteria for the debate were contributions from 200,000 unique donors, and either two polls at least 6 percent in the four early nominating states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina) or four polls at 4 percent or more in early nominating states or national surveys. These are likely the candidates we will see at the next Democratic Debate as well.
Joe Biden, former vice president
On June 4, former Vice President Joe Biden released a 22-page climate plan which embraced most of the main ideas in Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal and other existing climate plans. In fact, it was so similar that some elements of the plan seemed to copy multiple lines directly from other sources such as a letter from the BlueGreen Alliance Executive to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the website of the Carbon Capture Coalition’s Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
However, ignoring the blatant plagiarism, Biden’s main goal in his plan is to achieve zero-net carbon emissions by 2050, coupled with his intentions to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and gradually transition to a clean energy economy. Calling his 1.7 trillion dollar plan the “Clean Energy Revolution,” Biden hopes to fund the investments in clean energy and scientific research by getting rid of tax cuts installed during President Trump’s term. He also wants to ensure that other nations, specifically China, are also on track to meet their Paris Climate Agreement promises by “using America’s economic leverage.” Finally, he acknowledges that climate change disproportionately negatively affects communities of color and believes that the government should stop fossil fuel companies from jumping through tax and regulation loopholes. Previously criticized for seeking the middle ground on an issue which requires aggressive measures, Biden has now reformed his intentions by adopting various tenets from the Green New Deal.
Read his full plan here.
Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts senator
On June 4, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren unveiled her “Green Manufacturing Plan” which would invest $2 trillion dollars into “research, manufacturing, and exporting.” Likely one of the best-organized climate plans released by candidates, Warren split her plan into three elements — Green Apollo Program, Green Industrial Mobilization, and Green Marshall Plan.
The Green Apollo Program would focus on creating a National Institutes of Clean Energy (modeled after the National Institutes of Health) with $400 billion dollars. This program would likely add well-paid jobs to the economy and incentivize pursuing careers in environmental sciences and clean energy research. The Green Industrial Mobilization sector would invest $1.5 trillion dollars in the “federal procurement of clean, green, American products over the next ten years.” Like the 2017 California “Buy Clean” law, more regulations would be put in place to ensure that American products are environmentally friendly. Finally, like its predecessor which provided financial aid to foreign allies after World War II, the Green Marshall Plan would arrange purchases of “American-made clean, renewable, and emission-free energy products” for countries hoping to meet their part of the Paris Climate Agreement. Warren acknowledges that combatting climate change is a global effort and requires international cooperation and this portion of her plan meets this awareness.
Warren intends to pay for this expensive package of programs and reforms by taxing the richest corporations and cutting federal oil and gas subsidies. While it is unclear whether her “Real Corporate Profits Tax” and other tax reform will generate enough revenue, she seems confident that these changes will at least ensure that each American social class pays their fair amount.
Though more expensive than Biden’s, experts have called her plan more feasible to execute. While climate change has never been a focus of Warren during her tenure in Congress, she has broadly supported the Green New Deal.
Read her full plan here.
Bernie Sanders
Pete Buttigieg, South Bend Indiana mayor
As the newest star shooting up in the Iowa and New Hampshire polls, Pete Buttigieg has shaped himself to be a moderate voice among Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. His climate plan, which would cost between $1.5 to $2 trillion, reflects his standpoint.
“We’re running out of time. Experts tell us that we have 10 years to get on the right path, or global warming will reach catastrophic levels by 2050,” he wrote. “But the timeline that compels us to act isn’t set by Congress — it’s being dictated by science.”
His approach is split into three sections: Build a Clean Economy, Invest in Resilience, and Demonstrate Leadership. Like other candidates, he will enact a carbon tax and return the money directly to lower and middle-class residents as rebates. He hopes to invest at least $200 billion into researching and developing clean energy technology. Some other planned projects include a “$250 billion American Clean Energy Bank to fund locally-led clean energy projects, a 10-year, $250 billion Global Investment Initiative to harness American innovation for clean energy and infrastructure projects around the world, and a $50 billion American Cleantech Fund to fund demonstration projects.” Drawing from his experience as a mayor, he hopes to build clean energy infrastructure while ensuring that small-town workers are given a smooth transition from fossil fuel jobs to clean energy jobs. In the process, he aims to create at least 3 million jobs in the transportation, construction, and energy sectors.
In the second section of his plan, he proposes to build resilience against climate change in lower-income and minority communities. As it is scientifically proven that natural disasters like forest fires, floods, and storms disproportionately affect lower-income families, Buttigieg would create insurance programs, grants, and “Regional Resilience Hubs,” which would “help communities understand and manage their risks.”
Finally, he hopes to increase the Department of Defense’s budget for climate readiness and rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. To complement international summits, he would also host a national summit for regional and state climate leaders to strategize about the United States’ next climate actions. Like Biden, Buttigieg hopes to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, which some scientists consider too dangerous and too late. However, he sets some clear goals along the way, including doubling clean electricity in the US by 2025, zero emissions in electricity generation by 2035, and net-zero emissions from industrial vehicles by 2040.
Read more about his plan here.
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Senator
As a member of the Senate Climate Taskforce and a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, Senator Amy Klobuchar has frequently fought for legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions and set financial benefits for renewable energy.
Her climate plan includes extensive action during her first hundred days as President. She pledges to use her executive power and rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement immediately, restore the Clean Power Plan and significantly expand the renewable energy sector. Her climate plan seems to focus on economic legislation to remove federal subsidies for fossil fuel companies and to provide more incentives for renewable energy production. One notable proposal is the Clean Energy Bonds which would support investment in clean energy projects, allowing investors to earn back their full investment and interest through energy savings. These bonds would not only raise up to $50 billion but also allegedly create over 1 million jobs.
One of the few budgets she has delineated is the $1 trillion infrastructure package to revolutionize energy infrastructure and reduce emissions from buildings. By expanding the Land and Water Conservation Plan and investing in federally-sponsored climate change research, Klobuchar would take sweeping action against climate change.
However, unlike other candidates, she has not put an overall price tag on her plan, and her goal to reach 100% net zero emissions by 2050 is considered one of the most lenient plans. Environmental advocates have called her plan too vague and not aggressive enough.
Read her full plan here.
Tom Steyer, American businessman and philanthropist
As a largely self-funded billionaire, Tom Steyer has made climate change his top priority during his campaign. He has promised that on day one of his presidency, he will declare the climate crisis a national emergency and “direct each agency in the administration to take action to curtail the climate crisis.”
Steyer has five main pillars in his climate plan. Firstly, he aims to revolutionize every American industry to be powered with 100 percent clean energy. By setting strong standards for building emissions, tripling federal funding for climate research, and ensuring that strict air and water regulations, Steyer projects to achieve aggressive reduction target to reach net zero emissions by 2045.
Like other candidates’ climate plans, Steyer plans to engage grassroots efforts and create one million jobs for young Americans, underemployed people, and displaced workers through a Civilian Climate Corps. Another goal for his “Justice-centered” plan is to provide at least $50 billion to ensure former fossil fuel workers and their communities have the healthcare, wages, and benefits to transition to renewable energy and alternative jobs. Out of his $2.3 trillion overall cost, Steyer dedicates $2 trillion to invest in clean transportation, water, a clean energy grid, innovative rural development, city modernization, and affordable housing.
“This Justice-Centered Climate Plan will provide clean air and water, honor the contributions and sacrifice of workers in fossil fuel industries, and prioritize justice for communities that have been treated as environmental dumping grounds for far too long,” he wrote.
Read more about his plan here.
Andrew Yang, entrepreneur based in Manhattan
One of the long-shots in this race, Andrew Yang has proven that despite not being a politician, he has a thorough set of policies he would fulfill. A supporter of the Green New Deal, Yang fully considers climate change a major threat to the world. He supports a carbon fee or dividend, as proposed by the conservative Climate Leadership Council. He would use the revenue from the tax (an initial carbon tax of $40/ton) in order to fund a Universal Basic Income and eco-friendly projects.
His “five-pronged” approach: transitioning to renewable energy, “building a sustainable world”, moving people to higher ground, removing carbon from the atmosphere, and passing a constitutional amendment to hold governments accountable for environmental protection.
Using his experience as an entrepreneur, he plans to create a competition for grid modernization where “co-operatives would compete in two separate categories for a pool of $25 billion dollars each. These utilities would be given two years to enact certain reforms or hit certain targets, with points being awarded for achieving the goals based on a schedule of points.” Unlike other candidates, Yang has also demonstrated interest toward advancing nuclear energy, notably thorium reactors which are a novel research idea. In total, he would invest $4.87 trillion over 20 years, which places him around the middle of candidates spectrum in terms of budget.
“The right time to deal with this crisis was decades ago,” he wrote. “We’ve waited too long, so we need to act fast and recognize that all options need to be on the table in order to adapt to the changed world we live in while mitigating behaviors that make it worse and reversing the damage we’ve already done.”
Read more about his plan here.
