Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
12/11/2015
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday released a climate change plan that would commit the U.S. to reducing its carbon pollution by 40 percent by 2030 and more than 80 percent by 2050 below 1990 levels. To do so, the plan says, Sanders would place a tax on carbon. “Bernie agrees with leading economists on both ends of the political spectrum: a tax on carbon is one of the most straightforward and cost-effective strategies for quickly fighting climate change,” the plan says.
The plan calls for a number of additional steps, including banning fossil fuel lobbying in the White House, making “massive” investments in energy efficiency and renewables to create a 100 percent national clean energy system, and ending fossil fuel subsidies. “When fossil-fuel companies are racking up record profits, it is absurd to provide massive taxpayer subsidies to pad their already enormous earnings,” the Sanders plan says.
The plan does not lay out the specific path Sanders would take to reach these goals, if elected, and it remains uncertain what executive authority he might employ.
Sanders also called for increased international efforts. As president, he would host a climate summit to include the world’s best engineers, climate scientists, policy experts, activists, and indigenous communities in his first 100 days in office, the plan says. He would also push for the U.S. to take more of a lead in global climate change efforts. “The argument that we shouldn’t act until other countries do is falling by the wayside as China, India and many other countries have come to the table with initial commitments to take significant action to solve climate change,” the plan says.
To address climate change, action must also be taken to fight climate change denial, which, according to the plan, is bought by fossil fuel companies. “Let’s be clear: the reason we haven’t solved climate change isn’t because we aren’t doing our part, it’s because a small subsection of the one percent are hell-bent on doing everything in their power to block action,” according to the plan.
To that end, the Sanders plan seeks to “bring climate deniers to justice” by creating a national environmental and climate justice plan. “The reality is that the fossil fuel industry is to blame for much of the climate change skepticism in America. Bernie recently called for the Department of Justice to investigate Exxon Mobil, which may have not only known about the dangers of climate change, but has spent millions of dollars to spread doubt about the causes and impacts of burning fossil fuels,” the plan states.
Sanders Introduces Clean Energy Bills
Sanders this week also introduced two clean energy bills, the American Clean Energy Investment Act of 2015 and The Clean Energy Worker Just Transition Act, which he says would double the size of the American clean energy workforce by 2030 and drive over $500 billion in clean energy investments by 2030. The bills are cosponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.).
“Currently the United States wastes huge amounts of money providing corporate welfare to coal, oil and gas corporations that are destroying our planet. It is time for us to invest in technologies that are cutting greenhouse gas emissions and in the long run will be more cost-effective,” Sanders said in a release.
The American Clean Energy Investment Act of 2015 aims to spur new investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency by permanently extending clean energy tax credits for onshore and offshore wind, along with other clean energy technologies. The bill would also make clean energy incentives available for nonprofit organizations and expand access to electric vehicles by extending and increasing the current credit for qualified new plug-in electric drive automobiles.
The Clean Energy Worker Just Transition Act is intended to support coal industry and manufacturing workers who have lost their jobs as carbon-heavy industries experience a downturn. “We must not only create new jobs for workers who have lost work, but we must ensure that those new jobs are good jobs, meaning they pay a family-sustaining wage, they provide health care and retirement benefits, they are safe, and the workers who hold them have a powerful voice on the job,” a fact sheet released by Sanders’ office says.
The benefits created by the bill would be available for workers who are between jobs or underemployed. These workers would receive up to three years of unemployment insurance and pension based on their previous salary, and up to four years of job training, healthcare, and living expenses.
