Democrats in the House of Representatives released a 547-page plan on how to combat climate change on Tuesday, calling for “environmental justice” to be placed at the center of climate change and environmental policy for years to come.
“Environmental justice must be at the center of federal climate and environmental policy,” says the massive scheme, presented by Democrats in the House Select Committee on Climate Crisis.
AL GORE, UN SECRETARY GENERAL, OTHERS NOW DEMAND “GREAT RE-ESTABLISHMENT” OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM
In a glossary of the multitude of terms used in the lengthy document, Democrats define “environmental justice” as “the fair treatment and meaningful participation of all people, regardless of race, color, culture, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation and application of environmental laws, regulations and policies to ensure that each person enjoys (1) the same degree of protection against environmental and health risks; and (2) equitable access to any action of the federal agency on environmental justice issues to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, work and play. “
The plan marks an attempt to outline the party’s strategy on climate change and distinguish it a bit from the Green New Deal (GND), an expansive, far-left, multi-million dollar proposal championed by Democrats like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, and Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
The plan is somewhat less ambitious than GND, as it requires a net emission of greenhouse gases by 2050, while the Green New Deal requires the elimination of emissions by 2030. Similar to the Green New Deal, it requires regulations on everything from infrastructure to updated building codes to increase energy efficiency.
The new plan would also require that no new cars emit greenhouse gases beginning in 2035, with heavy trucks to follow in 2040. Democrats say it would save more than 60,000 lives and $ 8 billion due to health-related benefits. and the weather.
“Democrats know that the climate crisis is the essential crisis of our time, threatening public health, jobs and the economy, national security and values,” said Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat for California at a press conference.
Calls for radical action to combat climate change dominated the Democratic agenda in 2019, but have been swept aside in the midst of the coronavirus crisis and recent national debates on racial and police brutality in the wake of George’s death. Floyd.
There’s a nod to Floyd in the document, who mentions him on the first page. There are also regular references to the issue of race and how it intersects with the issue of climate.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP’S LABELS TRUMP AS ‘MOST DIRECT OF ALL TIME’
The document also speaks several times about “environmental justice communities” which it defines as a community “with a significant representation of communities of color, low-income communities, or tribal and indigenous communities, that experience or are at risk of experiencing increased or more adverse effects on human health or the environment. “
The many aspects of the plan would likely pass in the Democrat-controlled House, but they would be largely dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled Senate. But it’s a plan that sets out what the Democratic agenda would look like if Democrats won the Senate and White House in November.
Republicans dismissed it as a version of the green New Deal, and the White House accused Democrats of pushing “radical policies similar to the green New Deal that would cripple the US economy and crush the world’s poorest communities.”
Republicans on the panel had expressed anger at being excluded when Democrats released a partisan report.
“If I had known what I know now, why are we going through all this waste of money by putting together a committee, wasting money on staff and doing a dog and pony show with audiences? Rep. Garret Graves, R-Los Angeles, told The Washington Examiner. “You don’t need us to do this. It certainly wasn’t necessary to spend taxpayer funds to do it. “
The plan is similar to the one proposed by presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. His campaign praised the plan, which also has the backing of various groups of environmental activists.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
But the radical Sunrise Movement, which has long championed the Green New Deal, said it didn’t go far enough.
“This plan is more ambitious than anything we’ve seen from the Democratic leadership so far, but it still needs to go further to match the full scale of the crisis,” said Lauren Maunus, the group’s legislative manager.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
