Tom Steyer 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, September 27, 2019

Tom Steyer Unveils Plan to Define Environmental Crimes Against Humanity in Bold New Global Climate Plan

Steyer’s plan aims to restore America’s place on the world stage and would create a Global Green New Deal Fund, committing $200B over 10 years in total funding for global climate justice projects

(SAN FRANCISCO, September 27, 2019) — Today, presidential candidate for the Democratic nomination Tom Steyer announced his International Plan For Climate Justice. In this plan, Steyer became the first candidate to propose working with international leaders to define environmental crimes against humanity and ensure accountability for those who commit them. To pursue this accountability internationally, Steyer would work with global stakeholders to create something like a UN Environmental Crimes Tribunal; commit the U.S. to the UN Declaration of Rights for Indigenous Peoples and hold accountable foreign governments that violate those rights; and prevent global oil and gas companies from drilling in the Arctic.

From day one of his administration, Steyer vows to reestablish the U.S. at the forefront of global climate leadership and guarantees to make the climate crisis the center of his foreign policy to ensure a clean energy future. Steyer will re-enter the U.S. in the Paris Agreement and work with a strong coalition of nations to execute a comprehensive response to the intensifying climate crisis and accelerate the transition to a fully decarbonized and sustainable global economy.

Steyer’s International Plan For Climate Justice, in part, includes:

  • Creating a Global Green New Deal Fund, committing $20B per year every year for 10 years for $200B in total funding for global climate justice projects. These funds can be used to address environmental crimes against humanity such as stopping the burning of the Amazon, cleaning up the Pacific Garbage Patch, and remediating other extreme instances of environmental degradation. The funds can also help achieve Sustainable Development Goals, protect vital ecosystems, accelerate the equitable transition to clean energy, improve nations' resilience to climate-related disasters.
  • Declaring the climate crisis a national emergency on day one. Globally, this would entail rewarding countries for doing the right thing, punishing countries for doing the wrong thing, and making sure that the needs of poor and frontline communities have priority. This also means taking the “Half-Earth Pledge,” and working with international partners toward conserving half the earth’s lands and oceans. 
  • Strengthening our national security by greening the Departments of Defense and State, by disengaging in military operations over fossil fuels and leading on the global climate crisis. This entails making all non-combat military operations, facilities, and contracts carbon-neutral by 2030, creating a Climate Security Intelligence Center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and instructing each branch of the U.S. military to develop a detailed climate resilience plan and ensure military infrastructure can withstand future climate conditions and minimize carbon emissions.  
  • Strengthening our economy by greening our international trade policy. This would be accomplished by ending all American fossil fuel investments abroad and ending American fossil fuel exports as soon as possible. This also means negotiating and enforcing environmental protections, worker protections, minimum wage, and safety standards in all international trade pacts, and putting a green screen on all government procurement at home and abroad.

The announcement of the International Plan For Climate Justice follows the release of his unprecedented Justice-Centered Climate Plan earlier in his campaign.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

LEARN MORE: Steyer's International Climate Plan

Steyer’s International Climate Plan would create millions of well paying green economy jobs for Iowans, and invest in critical infrastructure. His plan would specifically invest in wind energy, and ensure access to clean and safe drinking water.

On day one of his presidency, Steyer plans to declare the climate crisis a national emergency and enact a plan that re-establishes the United States as a global leader.

Tom’s International Climate Plan highlights his vision for leading the global fight against climate change. His plan calls for defining and delivering accountability on environmental crimes against humanity, greening our international trade policy and Departments of Defense, and creating a Green Climate and Global Green New Deal Fund. 

Steyer’s Justice-Centered Climate Plan ensures clean air and water, honors the contributions and sacrifices of workers in fossil fuel industries, and prioritizes justice for communities that have been treated as environmental dumping grounds for far too long. Tom believes that the climate crisis must be treated like a crisis as big and urgent as any other crisis, and pledges to take executive action if Congress fails to act. That means directing every part of the executive branch to align their rules and decisions with the country’s global and domestic science-backed climate goals. 

Over ten years, Tom’s climate plan would create 46 million jobs that would dramatically increase union density in key sectors. It does not include indirect or induced jobs, which would number in millions more. The report, which includes a breakdown of infrastructure investments, clean energy targets, and job numbers, is available on the campaign website here.   

His plan will combat climate change and deliver climate justice: 
  • Eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels and driving all forms of global warming pollution to net-zero by 2045.
  • Highlight grassroots infrastructure and the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps.
  • Transform the extraction economy into a regenerative economy through, ensuring fair wages and employment in the clean energy economy and putting public lands to work for the public. 
  • Investments in America through climate-smart infrastructure, fair labor, clean product purchase standards, and just, clean investments. 
  • Builds resilience to disasters, protects our troops, prioritizes national security and restores America’s global leadership.
  • Tom’s Record: For a decade, Tom has taken on the oil lobby to win clean air laws and fight for renewable energy.
In his home state of California, he successfully led a ballot initiative to stop Big Oil from rolling back the state’s climate law, and almost single handedly financed a ballot measure that put $1.7 billion toward making schools more energy efficient.

Tom backed efforts that required 100% clean energy in California by 2045, to stop offshore oil drilling off the California coast, to expand access to zero-emission vehicles and electric school buses, and to ensure that every Californian has access to clean drinking water. 

In 2010, Tom successfully mobilized a grassroots movement to defeat Koch brothers-backed Proposition 23, which if passed, would have effectively repealed California’s landmark global warming law and damaged the state’s economy, environment and clean energy future. At the time, California was the world’s 12th largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and its global warming law, passed in 2006, mandates the largest legislated reductions in greenhouse gases in the world. In defeating Prop. 23, Tom led the fight to take on big Texas oil companies like Valero and Tesoro, and won. 

Through ballot initiatives, Tom has helped local residents stop the construction of a new polluting natural gas plant in an environmentally burdened coastal community with a large population of people of color and immigrants. In Nevada, Tom successfully led a ballot initiative to require 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, and negotiated with Michigan’s two largest utilities to increase their clean energy usage to at least 50 percent by 2030. Recently, Steyer signed the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge to reject campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry.