New climate policy recommendations from a council for the Democratic National Committee eclipse what Joe Biden has promised so far and offer a road map of what progressive activists are seeking from Biden as he looks to strengthen his climate plan.
The recommendations, issued Thursday by the DNC’s Environment and Climate Crisis Council, go far beyond what top Democrats have offered. For example, while Biden and Democratic leadership in the House have coalesced around a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the council calls for slashing emissions 70% by 2030 and to “near-zero” by 2040.
The council’s recommendations say the federal government should spend $10 trillion to $16 trillion on climate and clean energy over the next decade, on par with policy plans offered by Bernie Sanders but far higher than Biden’s $1.7 trillion plan. The council also calls for permanently banning fracking, a step Biden hasn’t supported.
“If adopted, these platform recommendations would be the most ambitious policies addressing the climate crisis ever adopted by the Democratic Party,” said Michelle Deatrick, chair of the DNC Climate Council, in a statement Thursday. Deatrick said the council would be “campaigning hard” to ensure the DNC adopts the recommendations, ramping up pressure ahead of the August convention.
It isn’t clear, though, how much sway the council will have, as it’s filled with progressive activists rather than establishment party brass. Environmentalists say the DNC platform process has historically not been inclusive or transparent.
The DNC created the climate council in February after refusing to hold a dedicated climate change debate that many environmentalists and most of the primary candidates had called for.
Biden’s campaign, too, has other outlets to look to as it considers how to strengthen its climate plan, which he has pledged to do in an olive branch to young progressive activists who backed Sanders and some of Biden’s other more left-wing primary opponents.
In May, Biden announced a joint climate change task force with Sanders that includes Sanders loyalists such as Green New Deal crafter Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and youth climate group Sunrise Movement leader Varshini Prakash.
Nonetheless, the DNC council recommendations offer a glimpse into some of the bolder actions left-wing environmentalists are hoping Biden will endorse.
“I think the most important thing to see out of the platform and out of all of this is a strong target,” said Brett Hartl, chief political strategist with the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund. “We want to see Biden set strong targets that are binding for 2030 and 2040 and beyond.”
The DNC council offers a road map for this, Hartl said, noting it outlines a 2040 target of “near-zero” emissions instead of net-zero emissions. That distinction is important because it closes the door to rampant use of carbon offsets, which allow companies to purchase credits for emissions reductions elsewhere, and instead means the United States would be “nearly decarbonized” by 2040. Some environmentalists have raised concerns that use of offsets allows industries to continue polluting instead of addressing their own emissions.
The council’s recommendations also take a much stronger stance on fossil fuels than many Democrats, including Biden, have been willing to stake out.
Biden’s climate plan would bar new fossil fuel leasing on federal lands and waters, a step the DNC council also outlines.
But the council goes much further, suggesting a next president should reinstate the crude oil export ban, block natural gas exports, and end the sale of internal combustion engine cars by 2030. It also suggests banning enhanced oil recovery, through which capture carbon dioxide is injected and stored underground in a process that produces more oil.
Hartl said the council could have been even bolder on actions to limit existing fossil fuel supply.
“Having a real plan for how you actually slowly turn that spigot off is really important,” he said, adding simply getting rid of domestic demand for fossil fuels won’t solve the problem.
The DNC council’s recommendations also include a significant focus on a “just transition” both for fossil fuel workers and for the minority and low-income communities disproportionately affected by pollution.
“This moment requires us to increase our resilience and commitment to dismantling the systemic, racial, social justice, and income inequalities that plague this country and that provide a foundation for glaring health disparities made evident by COVID-19,” said Peggy Shepard, executive director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice and a member of the council, in a statement.
The council calls for the creation of an interagency “Just Transition Task Force” that would be given six months to outline a program to support affected communities and workers. That task force would include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Department, the Labor Department, and other federal agencies, as well as a new “Climate Crisis Agency,” the council proposes.
Hartl said the “just transition” issues are tricky to navigate, but he is hoping the Biden campaign will address them head-on with some level of specificity, “so it doesn’t seem like an afterthought” to the communities and workers affected.
Biden, during a recent climate fundraiser, linked his desire to address climate change directly with policies to address racial injustice.
His campaign will be “proposing additional guidelines and concrete goals” to address climate change, Biden said, according to a pool report, though he didn’t offer any specifics on what or when.
He also touted the opportunity to create clean energy jobs as part of an economic stimulus.
“I think that we’re on our way, and we can be on our way to a significant economic recovery, not just to build back but to build back better,” Biden said. “Building back what we had before this crisis is not enough.”
