Our climate correspondent Emily Holden reports:
Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang unveiled his climate policy, which would both decrease heat-trapping pollution and adapt to the changing planet.
Andrew Yang
(@AndrewYang)Proud to release my climate change plan today – we must fight like mad for a future we will be glad to pass to our children. #YangsClimatePlan 👍🇺🇸 https://t.co/tliM27XEqd pic.twitter.com/azPcr4SxhO
He is calling the plan “Lower Emissions, Higher Ground,” referring to sea-level rise that will force humans in from the coasts.
“The right time to deal with this crisis was decades ago,” Yang said. “We’ve waited too long, so we need to act fast and recognize that all options need to be on the table in order to adapt to the changed world we live in, while mitigating behaviors that make it worse and reversing the damage we’ve already done.”
Yang has qualified for the third Democratic debate and has recently seen a surge in support, although he is far from a front-runner.
In his blueprint, he says he wants the US to be carbon-neutral by 2049, a year earlier than most Democratic candidates who have published plans. That means he wouldn’t completely eliminate all carbon emissions but would require any remaining ones to be offset, perhaps with clean energy elsewhere or forests that absorb carbon.
Yang would spend almost $5 trillion. Bernie Sanders, by comparison, would aim to spend $16 trillion. Any such government climate action would require congressional approval.
Yang also wants a carbon fee starting at $40 a ton. At least half the revenues would go to helping Americans afford the transition. He says that it’s hard to mobilize change when “78% of our fellow Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.”
His proposal includes a timeline to:
- Neutralize emissions from new buildings by 2025
- Build and start running new carbon-free nuclear reactors (with thorium and fusion) by 2027
- Cut emissions from new cars by 2030.
- Have a 100% renewable electric grid by 2035
- Make transportation carbon-neutral by 2040
- Recapture 85% of methane from oil and gas facilities by 2045
Yang would use nuclear power as a backstop as the country transitions to all renewables. He also would make money available for power companies to modernize the electric grid.
He says his administration would not employ anyone who formerly worked as a lobbyist for an oil, gas or coal company–many of whom currently work for Trump. He also would direct funds for Americans to “support the politicians they agree with and wash out the influence of lobbyists.”
