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Hey. Y'all listening? I want to talk about the Biden Climate/ Clean Energy Plan and how the 2020 Democratic Party platform can make it better. Longish thread, which I'll tag #BidenClimate.
First, link to the #BidenClimate plan. https://bit.ly/3j5MZ5D
Lots of mainstream climate groups have already praised it. Me, I sat down and read it and listened hard for what's not there.
Huge thanks to @jaycarmona, @HunterCutting and @MDeatrick for insights.
Lots of mainstream climate groups have already praised it. Me, I sat down and read it and listened hard for what's not there.
Huge thanks to @jaycarmona, @HunterCutting and @MDeatrick for insights.
There's a lot to like in #BidenClimate plan. It's a very labor friendly plan, and climate folk will need to build coalitions to make things happen. It's better than anything to date.
But.
But.
1. This is not a 1.5 degrees Celsius plan.
This plan does not mention the UN/ Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees.
And that's a BFD. #BidenClimate
This plan does not mention the UN/ Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees.
And that's a BFD. #BidenClimate
1a. Biden is running as a pro-science, pro-Paris Agreement candidate. The 2020 Dem Party platform MUST mention 1.5 degrees in its platform or it will cast serious doubt on Biden's commitment to science. #BidenClimate
1b. And the plan is sorta deficient in how it reestablishes US global leadership on climate. US needs to help developing countries. I sorta hope this will be addressed in a foreign policy section, but for now... #BidenClimate
1c. I just can't stress this enough. Climate plans need to respect science, and the UN, and that's 1.5 degrees C, and anything less is not sufficient, and I know y'all love this plan, but... I can't. So fix it. #BidenClimate
1.5. You will notice that a common theme of this thread is not just to call out deficiencies, but to ask Dem platform committee to fix them. I'm not giving up on the Democratic Party as a vehicle for change. Sorry haters.
2. What happened to Biden's own plan 1.0 to phase out fossil fuel extraction on public lands??? he consistently campaigned on this. #BidenClimate
2a. the Biden plan of June 2019 committed to “ban new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters.” phasing out fossil fuel production on public lands. https://bit.ly/2M0O67r
Just stick this campaign promise back in the platform, Dems. #BidenClimate
Just stick this campaign promise back in the platform, Dems. #BidenClimate
2b. Climate hawks want Biden to do much more to phase out fossil fuels. We must #keepitintheground. But the plan is weirdly blank here even after Biden campaign promises. #BidenClimate @blkahn nails it: https://bit.ly/2C5A0Az
3. Now let's talk renewables. And last week I was pretty critical of the Biden Bernie Unity Task Force for modest goals of tripling solar and doubling wind, aka free market economics without any govt incentives at all.
But this. #BidenClimate
But this. #BidenClimate
3a. New #BidenClimate plan doesn't have any numbers at all re growing renewables industry. Ambition, yes, but no numbers.
Here's a hint, Dem Party platform drafters. Start with the 600K jobs lost in the cleantech industry since the virus. #BidenClimate
Here's a hint, Dem Party platform drafters. Start with the 600K jobs lost in the cleantech industry since the virus. #BidenClimate
3b. I'm spitballing that growth of 5x to 10x from 2020 numbers would be good, Dem Party platform... but I'm more interested in what we need to do to meet 1.5 degrees goal. (see point 1, supra) #BidenClimate
Which brings me to point 4: cars. And smoke, and mirrors. And this is where I need to tell a bit of a story. Stick with me. #BidenClimate
4a. You see, just this week Ford introduced a new Bronco, and it's a SUV, emphasis on "sport," with all sorts of pix of it parked on trails and looking rugged and kewl. #BidenClimate
4b. And the new Bronco doesn't have its MPG estimates yet, but it's competing with a Jeep Compass that gets 20-24 mpg, which is pretty horrendous for 2020.
And nothing in the #BidenClimate plan dissuades Ford from building lots of Broncos.
And nothing in the #BidenClimate plan dissuades Ford from building lots of Broncos.
4c. Instead the #BidenClimate plan promises a million new jobs for autoworkers, and some promises to build cleaner, but again.
Nothing in the plan keeps Detroit from building gas guzzlers.
Nothing in the plan keeps Detroit from building gas guzzlers.
4d. instead there's a promise of "ambitious fuel economy standards" to be negotiated with industry. And environmentalists. But what does he have in mind? return to Obama CAFE standards? More? Less? #BidenClimate
4e. Even the House Dems' Select Committee has a mandate (albeit a weak one) to phase out new ICE (gasoline powered) cars by 2035. Nothing like that in #BidenClimate plan.
4f. I really like the #BidenClimate plan to turn over the nation's entire bus fleet to electric buses. Why such timidity re passenger cars?
4g. The Schumer Clean Cars For America plan, referenced in Biden’s plan, specifically calls for taking 63 million ICE cars off the road and replacing each with a clean car. #BidenClimate
4h. The 2020 Democratic Party platform must likewise make it clear that “clunkers” must be traded in for clean vehicles -- not new gas guzzling Ford Broncos. No matter how many new jobs Biden has promised to UAW. #BidenClimate
5. Much praise, deservedly so, for #BidenClimate plan to go to net zero electric sector by 2035. Much angst whether that includes biomass, "green hydrogen" (it's not), CCS, new nuclear, etc. So I have an easy-ish fix.
5a. Here's my fix: follow Cal's #SB100.
Set a series of benchmarks -- small interim goals between 2021 and, let's say, 2028. Count ONLY wind and solar until 2028. 2028-2035, count any net zero tech, including CCS. This gives time to see whether CCS is scaleable. #BidenClimate
Set a series of benchmarks -- small interim goals between 2021 and, let's say, 2028. Count ONLY wind and solar until 2028. 2028-2035, count any net zero tech, including CCS. This gives time to see whether CCS is scaleable. #BidenClimate
6. Transit. Lots to like in #BidenClimate plan re public transit; only fear is whether people will trust public transit til virus is gone.
7. Final thoughts. Lots to like in #BidenClimate plan, esp. labor and environmental justice embedded in the plan. Also love the idea that it's an economic stimulus. Dem Party platform will likely mirror this. It just needs some tweaks.
7a. No, I have no idea how to improve the platform yet. I'm only a DNC member-elect. They never tell me anything. I assume they will, some day. https://twitter.com/Kipmalinosky/status/1283507491087814656
7b. And of course the best thing we can do to improve #BidenClimate plan -- give Biden a landslide, 55+ Democratic Senators, and a mandate for bold climate action. Let's get to work.
folk who are interested/ still listening can view this googledoc. Thread, ended. https://bit.ly/2Cihipl
