As a result, a number of candidates have come out with new plans today to address the issue.
Here’s a handy summary of what we know so far about each candidate’s plan to tackle climate change:
Joe Biden
The former vice president suggested investing $1.7 trillion into clean energy and preventing climate change back in June (unlike other candidates, he did not adapt his plan from Washington Governor Jay Inslee who had an extensive climate change platform but recently dropped out of the race).
Biden’s plan spends less than most of the other major candidates, yet new polling found the majority of climate change-concerned Democratic voters, about 30 percent, believe he is the right candidate for the job.
Here’s what he’d do:
Set a goal of zero-emission energy production in the U. S. by 2050Reverse the GOP tax cuts and use the money to invest in green jobs and infrastructureInstitute a tax or fee for serial polluters to fund investments.
Elizabeth Warren
Warren’s plan, released Wednesday, would pour about $3 trillion over the next decade into new energy programs, jobs and research, that’s around double the amount Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete have suggested. Like Biden, Warren says she would pay for the plan in part by reversing Republican tax cuts.
Warren consulted withInslee while creating her climate policy agenda. Before dropping out of the race, Inslee released more than 200 pages of plans to combat climate change while growing the U.S. economy.
“While his presidential campaign may be over, his ideas should remain at the center of the agenda,” she wrote in the outline of her plan.
Here’s what Warren has adopted:
Retire all coal-fired electricity within the next decadeFund pensions and healthcare for all retired coal minersMake cars, medium-duty trucks and buses have zero-emissions by 2030Make new buildings (residential and commercial) carbon pollution free by 2028Ensure all energy production will be zero-emission by 2035.
Bernie Sanders
Sanders has proposed a $16.3 trillion Green New Deal plan that reimagines the totality of the U.S. economy. His plan requires an investment multiple times larger than those of other top 2020 candidates and the Vermont Senator has made clear that, unlike other candidates, he would not rely on public/private partnerships to fund his plan.
Ideally, he would:
Get to zero carbon emissions by 2050Ban all frackingCreate 20 million new green jobsFine and hold energy executives legally liable for pollutionCreate a 100 percent renewable energy system by 2030.
Kamala Harris
Harris released a $10 trillion plan on Wednesday, also borrowing largely from Inslee in her work.
She plans to:
End fossil fuel emissions in energy generation by 2030Create a carbon-neutral economy by 2045Create a $250 billion program to replace damaged water infrastructure over the next 5 yearsInvest $10 trillion (a combination of public and private spending) into green infrastructure, technology and jobs over the next 10 years.
Pete Buttigieg
On Wednesday, Buttigieg announced a plan to invest $1.1 trillion towards the issue.
His plan would:
Aim for net-zero emissions by 2050Require zero emissions from all new passenger cars by 2035Build a clean electricity system with zero emissions by 2035Invest $200 billion over 10 years into clean energy research and developmentCreate a $200 billion assistance fund to train and help transition out of work AmericansGive $5 billion in annual grants to help cities create new infrastructure to prevent destruction due to climate change.
Andrew Yang
The Silicon Valley entrepreneur is proposing a $4.5 trillion plan, spent over two decades, to combat climate change. Other candidates have levied their spending out over 10 years, so in order to compare the plans you’d want to slash Yang’s in half, bringing it to about $2.25 trillion.
Of that money:
$1. 5 trillion would go to loans for households looking to invest in green energy$100 billion would go to modernizing power grids$150 billion would go to subsidizing sustainable methods of agriculture$125 billion would go to making ground transportation zero-emission.
He would also:
End all fossil fuel subsidiesInstitute a carbon tax on companies, eventually rising to $100 per ton.
Beto O’Rourke
The former El Paso Congressman released his $5 trillion plan in May. The ambitious agenda focuses mainly on infrastructure and research and development.
Here’s what else he’d do:
Aim for net-zero emissions by 2050Invest $1. 5 trillion in infrastructure, innovation and green jobsRequire a net-zero emissions carbon budget for federal lands by 2030.
Amy Klobuchar
The Minnesota Senator released a 13-page climate plan early this week. She plans to invest $1 trillion into new, energy-efficient infrastructure.
Here’s what Klobuchar plans to do:
Strive for 100 percent net-zero emissions by 2050Re-instate Obama-era initiatives like rejoining the Paris climate agreement and the Clean Power Plan.
Julián Castro
The former housing and urban development secretary under Obama would work to fight structural environmental racism, where families of color or low-income Americans are in effect forced to live in dangerous environmental conditions like near chemical plants or in high-risk flood zones.
He would also:
Set a goal for the U. S. to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045Dedicate $10 trillion in federal, state, local and private funds to create 10 million jobs as part of a shift to clean energyStrive for a 50 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Cory Booker
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker’s plan, unveiled this week, would dedicate $3 trillion to fighting climate change with an emphasis on ending environmental racism.
He wants to:
Develop an entirely carbon-neutral economy by 2045Create a carbon-free energy system by 2030Dedicate $400 billion to “moonshot hubs” which would focus on big-picture research and development projects.
