Pete Buttigieg Releases Bold and Ambitious Climate Change Plan

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The youngest Democratic contender for president, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, will be 68 years old in 2050. That’s younger than fellow hopefuls Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and former Vice President Joe Biden are right now.

So the urgency embedded in his new plan to combat climate change released Wednesday is fitting. “We’re running out of time. Experts tell us that we have 10 years to get on the right path, or global warming will reach catastrophic levels by 2050,” he wrote. “But the timeline that compels us to act isn’t set by Congress — it’s being dictated by science.”

Though his proposal has a more modest government outlay than the plans proffered by some of the other 2020 contenders, Buttigieg sets some aggressive benchmarks: doubling clean electricity in the US by 2025, zero emissions in electricity generation by 2035, net-zero emissions from industrial vehicles by 2040, and a net-zero emissions by 2050 (when he’s 68).

Drawing on his experience as a mayor, Buttigieg’s strategy also includes a special focus on supporting towns and cities like South Bend in the clean energy transition. Every part of the country, he argues, deserves the chance to participate, whether that’s through energy efficiency upgrades, job training for displaced workers, or resiliency against extreme weather. “It means tapping into the potential of rural communities to become part of the solution,” Buttigieg wrote.

The plan also raises a variety of economic tools to accelerate the shift toward a low-carbon future, like climate action bonds, creating a clean energy bank, and ending subsidies for fossil fuels. It also calls for US diplomatic and financial leverage on the global stage to push other countries to move aggressively to curb their emissions.

Buttigieg’s plan creates new financial tools to fight climate change

The word “trillion” doesn’t appear anywhere in Buttigieg’s plan, but his campaign told Vox it estimates the government will spend $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion for the proposal, in addition to investments in modernizing, roads, railways, water mains, and bridges. That’s relatively modest compared to plans from candidates like former Rep. Beto O’Rourke ($5 trillion) or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ($16.3 trillion).

But for the price, Buttigieg expects the plan to create 3 million new clean energy jobs. He expects that money to motivate non-federal and private funding mechanisms as well.

In addition, he proposes a variety of financial instruments to drive the transition toward cleaner energy, including:

- Carbon price and rebate scheme: Money generated by an economy-wide price on carbon would be distributed back to low- and middle-income Americans.

- Climate risk disclosure: Publicly listed companies would have to disclose their exposure to the physical impacts of climate change and explain to investors how they plan to address them.

- CarbonStar program: Like the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program, CarbonStar would tell buyers about the carbon footprint of their products like your car or the electricity powering your home, offering rebates for more efficient options.

- Extend tax credits for carbon capture:Building on the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture proposal, Buttigieg aims to scale it up to the point that the US can deploy at least one gigaton of annual CO2 removal capacity by 2040.

- Clean Energy Bank: A $250 billion bank created to finance efficiency, clean energy, and clear water, and resilience projects across the United States.

Climate change will impact every part of the country, and Buttigieg wants to make sure no one is left behind

Buttigieg’s climate change proposal also includes a number of ways to ensure that it’s not just the rich and more heavily populated parts of the country that get funding to protect themselves from climate-related disasters:

- Equitable disaster relief: This means faster and easier access to federal disaster funds, but also ensuring that the money is protected from political wrangling so that money goes where it’s needed and not to who has better traction in Congress.

- National catastrophic extreme weather insurance: Create a national insurance program to protect from devastation worsened by climate change, but also other disasters like earthquakes.

- Climate-smart agriculture: Develop farming methods that not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food production and resist extreme weather, but actually use crops and soil management techniques to encourage absorption of carbon.

- Regional Resilience Hubs: Create centers throughout the country managed by local communities that develop strategies to deal with the specific climate risks in the region, funded in part by $5 billion in annual grants.

The proposal also calls for strengthening worker protections via unions and job retraining with a $200 billion transition fund for workers such as coal miners who would soon find themselves out of work. This may be one of the most critical planks in the plan for building a coalition of support.

Full article: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/4/20848059/pete-buttigieg-2020-climate-change-plan

Full plan on his website: https://peteforamerica.com/climate

Full 18-page white paper, footnoted with 63 citations: https://peteforamerica.com/climate/white-paper

Also, former energy advisor to WH for Obama, Jason Bordoff had this to say about the plan 

He's scheduled to speak tonight at 10 PM ET on CNN Climate Crisis Town Hall. Tune in.  

Full schedule for all Democratic presidential candidates here: www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/3/20847535/cnn-climate-town-hall-2020-presidential-democrats

 

 

[Andreu 37,216]

I would like to see it

[HorusRa2 5,005]

Following. 

[ALGAYDO 35,083]

It’s so great seeing politicians actually make a move to tackle on climate change. Like Bernie and AOC, and now Pete. It shouldn’t be a rare thing seeing world leaders wanting to prevent the world from killing humans off lmao 

 

[JustaMonster 4,909]

 Yes we need to do something and get climate change deniers out of office 

[ImTired 3,956]

I love me some Pete! 

[JazzGa 14,652]

I love these detailed plans. Before I decide to vote for, I am going to do a side-by-side comparison of the plans for healthcare and the environment as laid out by my top candidates, because those are my top two voting issues.

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1 minute ago, ImTired said:

I love me some Pete! 

Ikr? Such a thoughtful, measured and kind candidate. The country could do so much better with him as the POTUS. 

There's so much of hope and positivity in this campaign. He inspires so many by calling them to their highest values.

Plus, Chasten his husband is a national treasure. First Gentleman of the United States would be historic of epic proportions if it were to happen.

I so want them both in the WH  

[TheRealJT 2,291]

His plan should be to drop out and support Warren and Sanders. And also to run for senate 

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1 hour ago, Vroom Vroom said:

His plan should be to drop out and support Warren and Sanders. And also to run for senate 

Why the hell should a top tier presidential candidate who's polling 4-5 nationally drop out when others below him are not dropping out? Do you even think before writing such bs? 

Sorry, not happening. Just to be clear, he's running for "President", not Senate. Indiana has no open Senate seat. 

He's also opening 20 new offices in Iowa and 12 in NH, bringing his total staff count to nearly 400, highest of any candidate. He's focused on building a solid ground game in early states and winning.

Now take your negativity and condescension out of this thread if you have nothing worthwhile to contribute.