BROOKLYN -July 8, 2020—While recent Democratic climate plans continue to improve, they continue to fail in their ability to create the massive national mobilization needed to address the Climate Emergency.
“The Climate Emergency represents an existential crisis that merits the type of urgency which Vice President Biden’s task force admits, yet fails to provide a comprehensive answer to,” said Laura Berry, Director of Research and Policy for The Climate Mobilization, a group pushing for a national mobilization to restore our planet to a safe climate.
“The proposals put forth by the Bernie-Biden Unity Task Force-while a step ahead of the recent plan by the House Select Committee on Climate and far ahead of Biden’s original climate plan- still lacks the urgency needed to protect our future,” added Berry who points to the following areas where improvement is needed:
- Commitments to phasing out fossil fuels are actually weaker than what was in Biden’s original climate platform. There is no mention of Biden’s original commitments to phasing out fossil fuel extraction on public lands or ending fossil fuel subsidies.
- The platform has only broad proposals for decarbonizing transportation, our biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions across the country (28% in 2018)
What’s good about the recommendations:
- Provides an interim target for decarbonization of the power sector by 2035. The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis report committed to net zero power by 2040, and Biden’s original plan only pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2050
- Much stronger and more specific commitments to environmental justice and tribal consultation – including the creation of an environmental justice fund
- The commitment to mobilizing the federal government through the creation of an Office of Climate Mobilization that reports directly to the president, and expansion of the Council on Environmental Quality