Former Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a radical new proposal Tuesday that called for the United States to achieve a carbon-free energy sector by 2035 and make a $ 2 trillion investment during his first four years in office in green energy and infrastructure. to combat the threat. of climate change.
The campaign outlined the proposal, which would move the nation rapidly toward a rapid reduction in its dependence on fossil fuels, as an employment and infrastructure plan, leveraging and incorporating its initial climate policy, by “expanding and accelerating our investments to meet the moment we are: an economic crisis, “according to a campaign adviser.
The new timeline and spending represent a significantly more aggressive approach to the issue for Biden, who faced calls during the Democratic primary from the party’s progressive wing to make fighting climate change a more urgent priority.
In a fact sheet describing the new plan, which is the second pillar of his “Build Back Better” economic proposal, Biden’s campaign said that if the candidate’s proposed steps are taken, they will put the United States on an “irreversible path. to achieve zero net emissions, across the economy, no later than 2050. “
“Biden has rejected from the beginning the idea that we have to choose between good jobs and a clean energy future. He laid out a vision for this past year to build a clean energy future, and today he is implementing some of the concrete he plans to create these jobs. Again, these are well-paying union jobs, “a Biden campaign adviser told reporters in a conference call describing the plan Tuesday morning.
The most aggressive plan also comes about a week after a task force established by Biden and former primary rival Senator Bernie Sanders recommended that the alleged Democratic candidate move to “eliminate[ate] Carbon pollution from power plants by 2035 through technologically neutral standards for clean energy and energy efficiency, “a proposal that has now officially hit the platform of the former vice president.
However, a senior campaign adviser stressed Tuesday that the new plan was not based solely on the recommendations of the task force and is instead the result of a year-long process to develop a plan that creates jobs and leads the nation towards more sustainable energy. sector, consulting with a mix of elected officials, policy experts, scientists and private sector companies.
“I … would not link this specifically to the working group’s recommendations, but an effort of more than a year to do it well,” said the adviser, criticizing the lack of focus of the Trump administration on the issue of climate change.
“This week, we are really taking over infrastructure, I mean, this is something that [Trump] He has tried to possess and, frankly, failed abjectly. You know that the plan we present today will modernize America’s infrastructure end-to-end and make it sustainable for the future. So this is a week of real infrastructure, “argued another aide, pointing to frequent celebrations of the Trump administration’s” infrastructure week. ”
Along with the green economy plan, the campaign also launched a plan specifically focused on environmental justice and fighting the disproportionate impacts of climate change on communities of color.
The campaign pledged to target 40% of the benefits of its “clean energy revolution” to disadvantaged communities and will focus on addressing the connection between the impacts of climate change and public health, building on the points of Biden’s plan to combat coronavirus and prepare for future threats to global health.
The campaign will also focus on collecting data to inform decisions, creating a ‘Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool’ that will identify communities affected by the effects of climate change and publish that information on annual maps that identify communities.
As part of the plan, Biden’s campaign pledges to establish an Environmental and Climate Justice Division within the Department of Justice, and to review EPA’s Office of External Civil Rights Compliance, as part of a path to review the policy. current environmental justice government, dating back to 1994.
Biden’s previously released climate change plan required a “federal investment of $ 1.7 trillion over the next ten years, leveraging additional private, state and local investments totaling more than $ 5 trillion,” and aimed to achieve “A 100% clean energy economy and zero net emissions by 2050 at the latest.”
Biden’s $ 1.7 billion starting price for federal funds would be paid “reversing the excesses of Trump’s tax cuts for corporations, reducing incentives for tax havens, evasion and outsourcing, ensuring that corporations pay their fair share, closing other gaps in our tax code that rewards work, not wealth, and ends with fossil fuel subsidies, “according to the campaign.
The $ 2 trillion price for four years, the campaign argued, is “what science requires to tackle the climate crisis,” but when asked specifically about how it intends to pay the high price, the campaign declined to provide details, Saying the full pay plan will be revealed when the full “Build Back Better” plan is announced in the coming weeks.
“It will be a combination of expenses paid through corporate tax increases up to the 28% rate and asking wealthier Americans to pay their fair share, and a certain amount of stimulus spending, and we will have more to say about what that looks like in the next few weeks, “said one adviser.
Biden’s plan released Tuesday also calls for the creation of a “Civil Climate Body” to develop scientific solutions to stimulate a more sustainable economy, an idea that was originally proposed by another of the former Democratic primary rivals, Washington Governor Jay Inslee. .
Inslee, who made climate change the central issue of his presidential campaign, issued a statement Tuesday praising Biden’s new plan.
“The next president must lead a national mobilization to defeat climate change. Joe Biden’s plan shows that he takes the task of defeating climate change seriously and has a roadmap to become the climate president the United States needs.” Inslee, whose team provided input to Biden’s campaign to craft his energy policy, wrote.
Biden is expected to present his new green energy plan during remarks in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday afternoon.
In a virtual fundraiser on Monday night, Biden specifically spoke about the sense of urgency he plans to provoke on the issue of fighting climate change if he defeats Trump in November.
“2050 is a million years from now for most people. My plan is focused on taking action. Now,” Biden said. “God willing, I win and even if I’m eight years old, I want to make sure to leave a marker that is impossible for the next president to turn around.”
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