A Brief History of the Democrat's Climate Awakening

There are clear signs that climate change has emerged as a central issue for Democrats going into the 2020 presidential elections. This is the first election cycle in American history where climate change will be a front and center issue, at least for the Democrats. President Obama deserves credit for leading Democrats in the fight for climate action. While his legacy of climate action is laudable it is being systematically dismantled by the Trump administration. This is in part why the current slate of Democratic candidates are making the climate crisis a central plank of their presidential campaigns. The Dems' focus on climate action has been more than a decade in the making. Here is a brief review of the long and winding road that has led us to the present moment.

In 2008 the DNC adopted a progressive policy platform that included climate action. After a green stimulus package was passed in 2009, Democrats backpedaled. In 2010 there were 44 Democrats who opposed a climate change bill and their avoidance of climate change was clearly evident in the 2010 midterms. It should be noted that their populist platform did not win them votes as Democrats suffered major losses in the 2010 midterms.

This changed in 2012 with the adoption of a progressive party platform and the Climate Change Caucus led by former Democratic Senator for California Barbara Boxer (1993 to 2017). Shortly thereafter the Democrat's adopted an "all of the above" energy strategy that included fossil fuels. The DNC policy platform in 2012 was less environmentally focused then the one they adopted in 2008. They abandoned a few key policy positions including dropping their call for an end to fossil fuels and support for cap-and-trade. Although they continued to support an international deal to curtail GHG pollution, they no longer demanded that the agreement be binding.

While Republicans are maligned for being on the take from the fossil fuel industry, Democrats are not blameless. Nonetheless, Democrats showed renewed interest in global warming in 2014 with Democratic Senators launching a climate action task force.

In 2015 Democrats made a deal with the devil. In exchange for clean air, water, and energy Democrats supported increasing oil exports. In 2016 they added a climate amendment to their party platform. However, this was not reflected in the debates that year as climate change was a either a side issue or altogether absent.

In the 2016 presidential debates climate was largely ignored. At a January 27th Town Hall, with the exception of Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders, Democrats avoided the issue of climate change for the most part and the front-runner Hillary Clinton maintained her silence. This was true of the first, second, third and fourth Democratic debates as well as the CBS Democratic Debate in November.

Although the Democratic candidates each offered some form of climate and environmental position, with the two notable exceptions cited above, the rest (Lincoln Chaffee, Larry Lessig and Jim Webb) were not committed to serious climate action.

Democrats did very well in the 2018 midterms, with women leading the charge and speaking out about climate change.  Many of these candidates expressed their support for a Green New Deal. The blue wave welcomed the return of science to the House of Representatives, a chamber that had become a mouthpiece for fossil fuel powered climate denial. There were also a host of environmental victories in plebiscites across the country.

History will record that in 2019, climate change came of age in American political discourse. This was evident in the first and second Democratic Presidential debates as well as first and second CNN debates.

In 2016 O'Malley was the climate hawk pushing Democrats towards climate action. In 2019 Jay Inslee assumed the mantle of this responsibility. He may have dropped out of the race but as the most progressive voice on climate action he has helped to push the issue into the spotlight. Both Warren and Castro have reached out to Inslee and drawn on his climate platform.

The fact that all the Democratic front runners have released climate proposals in 2019 is indeed groundbreaking. On the evening of September 4th, 2019 the ten leading Democratic candidates also participated in a series of climate town halls. This is a far cry from previous elections and it lends credence to the belief that if elected, Democrats will revive climate action in the U.S.

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Ten Climate Proposals from the Leading Democratic Presidential Candidates

For the first time ever, all of the leading Democratic presidential candidates agree that climate change is a high priority issue that demands urgent action. They all released climate proposals ahead of the historic climate town halls on September 4th.

There is a great deal of agreement between the leading Democratic contenders. They all want to reverse Trump's actions and rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. They all support zero-emissions, carbon-neutral electricity, the electrification of transportation and ending federal fossil fuel subsidies.

The candidates also share a common focus on socioeconomic disparities. They want to address inequality through climate action that assists vulnerable people in minority and other disadvantaged communities. They all offer varying degrees of support for the Green New Deal.

However, they differ on timelines and how they will pay for their plans. Some favor fining polluters, others prefer a carbon tax. Many want to end tax breaks to the fossil fuel industry and/or increase taxation on the wealthy.

Candidates are jockeying for the role of pack leading climate hawk. The position was vacated when former Washington governor Jay Inslee dropped out of the race last month. Both Warren and Castro have met with Inslee or his people, however, their climate proposals still fall short of Sanders's plan.

Bernie Sanders

• $16.3 trillion investment
• Carbon neutrality by 2030

Sanders makes it clear that he wants to lead the world to address the climate crisis. He wants to see 16.3 trillion in federal spending in a World War II style mobilization that would touch almost every sector of the economy. In addition to the size of the federal investment, Sander's proposal is unique in terms of time-frames. He wants the U.S. to be carbon neutral by 2030. He wants to transition away from fossil fuels and immediately ban energy extraction. Sander's plan includes 100 percent renewable energy which Sander's claims will produce 20 million jobs. He also wants to use the courts to level criminal charges against companies who conceal knowledge of harm caused by their products or services.

Elizabeth Warren

• $2 trillion investment
• Carbon neutrality by 2035

Warren has largely adopted Inslee's plan with some tweaks and additions. Warren has proposed a $2 trillion investment in green manufacturing, research and development. She wants to take the innovations produced through this investment and market them abroad. She recently added another $1 trillion to achieve zero-carbon emissions and the timelines breakdown as follows: New buildings by 2028, vehicles including trucks and buses by 2030 and electricity by 2035.

Kamala Harris

• $10 trillion investment (public and private)
• Carbon neutrality by 2045

Harris wants to invest $10 trillion in private and public money to make the U.S. economy carbon-neutral by 2045. Her plan dovetails with the Climate Equity Act put forward by her and Rep. Axexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Harris also wants to increase penalties for companies that violate federal pollution laws and she wants to restore the polluter pays model to fund the superfund program.

Cory Booker

• $10 trillion investment
• Carbon neutrality by 2045

Like Harris, Booker wants to invest $10 trillion to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. He wants to pay Americans a climate dividend with money raised through carbon fees levied against fossil fuel producers.

Julian Castro

• $10 trillion investment

Although the details are not clear, Castro also wants to see $10 trillion in spending. His plan emphasizes addressing economic inequality with civil rights legislation that will tackle environmental discrimination and environmental racism.

Beto O'Rourke

• $5 trillion investment 
• Carbon neutrality by 2050

O'Rourke wants to leverage a $5 trillion investment to get to zero emissions by 2050. He envisions a $1.5 trillion investment to reform energy and transportation infrastructure. O'Rourke is unique in wanting to work through Congress to set legally enforceable environmental standards including greenhouse gas emissions.

Joe Biden

• $1.7 trillion investment
• Carbon neutrality by 2050

Biden's plan adds to the work done by the Obama's administration while he was vice president. He would dedicate $1.7 trillion to eliminate GHG emissions by the middle of the century. He would end fossil fuels subsidies and ban new oil and gas permits on public lands. Biden embraces climate science and is calling for a timely clean energy revolution.

Pete Buttigieg

• $1.5 and 2 trillion investment (to leverage tens of trillions)

Buttigieg envisions spending between $1.5 and 2 trillion to leverage tens of trillions of dollars in private, state and local investment to combat climate change. He wants to invest another $25 billion in climate research and create a Climate Watch Floor in the Department of Defense. Buttigieg wants to make $1 trillion available to the economically disadvantaged.

Amy Klobuchar

• Carbon neutrality by 2050

Klobuchar wants to see zero-emissions by 2050. She also wants to bring back the Obama era clean power plan and gas mileage standards killed by Trump. She wants to work with Congress and take aggressive executive action.

Andrew Yang

Yang wants to massively invest in technology including decarbonization research. He sees sea level rise as inevitable and as a consequence he is focused on climate adaptation. He wants to move people away from low lying flood prone areas.

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Top 10 Democratic Presidential Contenders Participate in Climate Town Halls

On September 4th, Democratic presidential contenders made history with their participation in back-to-back climate focused town halls in New York City. For seven hours, one after another, the ten Democrats vying for the party's presidential nomination spoke on the subject of the climate crisis. All ten of these candidates have put forth climate plans and this represents a historic shift for the party and the country. They all agree about the veracity of anthropogenic climate change and the need for consorted action. This is in stark contrast to the current president and most GOP legislators, who equivocate about the veracity or deny it outright.

Andrew Yang indicated he wants to re-calibrate gross domestic product (GDP) by incorporating metrics that assess environmental variables. "Let's upgrade it with a new score card that includes our environmental sustainability and our goals," Yang said. He also said, "You should not be stressed out about the water that you are drinking, the water your kids are drinking, this is again the problem of having the almighty dollar running our society, where people look up and say replacing the pipes is too expensive, using another substance is expensive, are you kidding me, you know what is expensiveness poisoning our kids."

Elizabeth Warren pulled no punches when it came to the fossil fuel industry and other corporate interests, saying these interests want us to focus on smaller issues like light bulbs and plastic straws to distract us from focusing on the real issue which is their contributions to the climate crisis. Warren explained, "You don't get to ruin the air for everyone else, the water for everyone else, the soil for everyone else, we don't, just to help giant corporations. They don't get to make our kids sick they don't get to shorten lifespans because it increases their profitability."

Kamala Harris said that if she were elected president she would direct the Department of Justice to go after oil and gas companies. They are causing harm and death in communities. And there has been no accountability." She also called out GOP legislators, "Every one of those [Republican members of Congress] need to look at the babies and grand-babies in their life and then look in the mirror and ask themselves why have they failed to act because on the issue of this climate crisis, I am going to tell you, I strongly believe this is a fight against powerful interests, and leaders need to lead, so lead, follow or get out the way, and get out the way starting with Donald Trump"

Bernie Sanders said, "we are the most powerful country on Earth we should be leading an energy transition and you have a president who thinks its not real that is idiotic".

Pete Buttigieg said, "Congress right now is like a room full of doctors arguing about what to do over a cancer patient and half of them are arguing whether medication or surgery is the best approach and the other half are saying cancer doesn't exist. Think of what a disservice, this is a life or death issue." He did not make light of the scale of the problem we face. Buttigieg said combating the climate crisis will be "more challenging than" winning WW II and the "hardest thing we will have done in my lifetime as a country."

Amy Klobuchar criticized the Trump administration's decision to kill methane regulations calling it "very dangerous". She also said, "We need environmental justice in this country."

Julián Castro also referred to the need to assist the economically disadvantaged especially people of color who bear the brunt of climate impacts. He argued for "new civil rights legislation" to address environmental racism in minority communities. Castro also said, "As we experience more storms with more intensity we will take the right steps to prevent climate change so that wont happen, but then when it does, if it does, to address it no matter who you are and make it affordable in part through that national flood insurance program"

Beto O'Rourke sounded fatalistic as his thoughts focused on climate adaptation, "In the year 2100...this planet will have warned 4.5 - 5 Celsius, as scientists say at that point we are screwed." He said he would spend federal dollars to help people move from flood prone areas.

Cory Booker said that while he will not try to change what people eat he will employ nuclear power in the fight against climate change. According to Booker people who reject nuclear, "just aren't looking at the facts". He also said "If you elect me your president I am going to ask more from you than any other president in your lifetime because I grew up from parents who taught me if there is not struggle there is no progress. We can ignite that moral imagination of this country and we can deal with this problem as big as it may seem it is not bigger than who we are as a people together."

Joe Biden's can-do message optimistically declared, "This is the United States of America there is not a damn thing we've not been able to accomplish once we set our mind to it"

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