2020 Presidential Candidates Views on Climate Change: By Nina Victoria
The 2020 Presidential Election is in a little over a year, and there are currently twenty Democratic candidates vying for the nomination. A topic on everyone’s mind this election cycle is climate change; and most of the twenty candidates have put forward a plan to combat it.
Bernie Sanders has adopted the Green New Deal, which would cost $16.3 trillion dollars which is collected from: income taxes generated by the twenty-million new jobs that would be created by the Deal, taxes on fossil fuels, a cut on defense spending, and selling the power generated by new, clean sources. The Green New Deal, Bernie 2020, https://berniesanders.com/issues/green-new-deal/ (last visited October 2, 2019). The Deal calls for reaching 100% renewable energy sources for electricity and transportation by 2030, complete decarbonization by 2050, helping small family-farms by investing and regenerative and sustainable agriculture, and helping with the transition of displaced workers. Id.
Elizabeth Warren, an original sponsor of the Green New Deal, has incorporated climate change action into the other proposals she has put forward, including proposals for public lands, the military, trade, US manufacturing, and climate risk disclosure because she thinks of climate change as an issue of all these industries. Tackling the Climate Crisis Head On, Warren For President, https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/climate-change/ (last visited October 2, 2019).
Julián Castro’s first act of President will be to re-enter the Paris Climate Agreement and to negotiate a stronger deal. People & Planet First, Julian for the Future, https://issues.juliancastro.com/climate-1/ (last visited October 2, 2019). He plans to reach zero-emissions by 2040 at the latest, and to help those workers in the fossil-fuel industry transition. Id. Castro also plans on creating new laws that protect low-income communities that suffer the most from climate change but contribute to it the least. Id.
Kamala Harris’s plan to fight climate change includes holding the big polluters, like Exxon, accountable in the court system, setting aside thirty-percent of US land and oceans for protection, investing in clean energy, transportation, agriculture, and infrastructure, and making sure the rest of the world does their part to combat climate change. A Climate Plan for the People, Kamala Harris for the People, https://kamalaharris.org/climate/ (last visited October 2, 2019).
Beto O’Rourke proposes a legally binding goal of reaching zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. He plans to re-join the Paris Climate Agreement, set energy efficiency standards, and limit the amount of methane gas leaks from oil and gas drilling. Taking on Our Greatest Threat: Climate Change, Beto for America, https://betoorourke.com/climate-change/ (last visited October 2, 2019). O’Rourke’s plans to spend $5 trillion over ten years to invest in clean energy, and to better infrastructure and make other preparations in the parts of the country that would be most harmed by the effects of climate change. Id.
Pete Buttigieg plans to create tools that would limit greenhouse gases including a clean energy bank to fund local climate change fights, tax credits for those that help capture carbon, a transition fund that helps those workers that were displaced when non-renewable energy jobs taper, and to repair infrastructure. Climate Change: Rising to the Climate Challenge, Pete for America, https://peteforamerica.com/policies/climate/ (last visited October 2, 2019). Mayor Buttigieg also proposes a carbon tax and would distribute the revenues gained back to low and middle-class Americans. Id.
Amy Klobuchar plans to reinstate all of the Obama-era regulations, re-entering the Paris Climate Change Agreement, stop the censoring of climate science, reduce the federal government’s carbon footprint, and to get the United States on the path to be emission-free by 2050 through many of the same strategies as other candidates. Senator Klobuchar on Combating Climate Change, Amy for America, https://amyklobuchar.com/combating-climate-change/ (last visited October 2, 2019).
Joe Biden pledges to be at a 100% clean energy economy by 2050. He also plans to develop regional climate resistance plans that best fight climate change locally, ensure that marginalized communities have the same access clean energy, air, and water, and to transition workers in the fossil-fuel industry to other industries. Climate, Biden for President, https://joebiden.com/climate/ (last visited October 2, 2019).
Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, Tom Steyer, Steve Bullock, Tulsi Gabbard, Joe Sestak, Marianne Williamson, Tim Ryan, John Delaney, and Michael Bennet have also put forward plans to fight climate change, which are viewable on their respective websites. The candidates’ proposals are much more complex than this presents them. Remember, do your own research and vote for the candidate that is right for you!