Bernie Sanders’ climate plan: excellent on electrification, but authoritarian and populist
Only half of $15 trillion is for climate action, and 31% of that is for electric cars
Climate change is a critical issue in the upcoming 2020 US Election. I’m assessing the leading candidates’ plans, as well as interesting outliers such as Andrew Yang’s. This assessment is of Sanders’, plan, one which I had high expectations for based on the press swirling around it and the very large price tag. I was disappointed.
Bernie Sanders’ electrification plan is excellent, but depends on potentially dangerous authoritarian populism, his transportation plan is mostly about cars for less wealthy people, and his land use plan is good, but military and industry don’t get nearly enough attention. Only about half of the $16.3 trillion can be tracked to things which actually reduce climate change.
Sanders leans into the New Deal part of the Green New Deal, with only $8.7 trillion of the $16.3 trillion devoted to climate action. The rest is probably well spent, but won’t move the needle on carbon, and isn’t well focused on adaptation. Lots of smaller buckets for cleanup and social justice.
Sanders’ team has an excellent goal and expenditure for electrification of the entire US…
