- Mayor
Pete
Buttigieg
« Climate
Change
Pete for America
For Immediate Release
September 4, 2019
Contact: Chris Meagher
Pete Buttigieg Releases A Plan to Mobilize America: Rising to the Climate Challenge
SOUTH BEND, IN — Today, Pete Buttigieg released an innovative plan to bring Americans together behind urgent action to address the threat of climate change and meet the greatest challenge of our time. Pete’s plan channels all of our energies into a national project—one that unifies every American, from big cities to rural communities, around this urgent threat and seizes the tremendous opportunity of a new era of climate action.
“For too long Washington has chosen denial and obstruction as we’re faced with the imminent catastrophic effects of climate change,” said Buttigieg. “But the timeline that compels us to act isn’t set by Congress—it’s being dictated by science. Climate change impacts not only our coasts, but also farmers, small businesses, homes, and communities across our country. A farmer practicing smart soil management in Iowa should be as much a symbol of combating climate change as someone driving an electric vehicle in Los Angeles. My plan ensures that no community is left behind as we meet the challenge of our time with the urgency and unity it demands.”
This crisis isn’t a far off challenge, it is affecting us all today. Farmers are losing crops due to extreme weather events and longer breeding periods for crop-killing pests, the cost of flood and fire insurance is skyrocketing, and our children are suffering from increased asthma rates and other climate-related health problems. Farmers will lead the way in our fight against climate change by pioneering climate-smart farming techniques, providing our energy sector with renewable biofuels, and being good stewards of the land so future generations can continue to thrive.
Pete’s plan takes decisive action to eliminate greenhouse gas pollution and restore American leadership to put the world on a path to limit warming to 1.5°C. It builds coalitions across the country in urban and rural areas, all while creating new American jobs and exporting our climate innovations to the rest of the world. These efforts will unify our country while creating more than three million high-paying clean energy jobs over the next decade and ensuring that the United States becomes a zero-emissions electricity system by 2035.
Pete’s plan tackles the climate change crisis head on:
- Build a clean electricity system with zero emissions and require zero emissions for all new passenger vehicles by 2035
- Transition all new trucks, buses, ships, and planes by 2040, and all industrial, manufacturing, and agriculture by 2050, to net-zero emissions
- Enact an economy-wide price on carbon and rebate the revenue back to Americans
- Quadruple federal clean energy R&D to invest $200 billion over 10 years
- Issue U.S. Climate Action Bonds to help pay for clean energy and resilience deployment
- Abolish subsidies for polluters and reverse the dangerous Trump rollbacks
- Deploy clean energy technologies financed by three new innovative investment funds with more than $550 billion of funding
- Support sustainable farming methods and invest in soil carbon sequestration
- Issue an energy efficiency tax rebate to cover 30% of the cost of the improvements for residential homes and apartment building
- Deploy community-centric resources—including resilient transportation options and community solar—so those without a rooftop or car can access locally-sourced clean energy and accessible public buses, subways, and low-cost car share systems
- Promote funding for under-resourced communities through the Clean Energy Bank to ensure they have access to clean energy technology and resilient infrastructure.
- Elevate consultation with tribal governments and Native communities and fight alongside tribes to stop any development that potentially harms their land and people
- Stand up a $200 billion transition assistance fund for displaced workers and to provide training and transition support, and guaranteeing a robust social safety net, including retirement and health benefits available to all who want them.
- Build Regional Resilience Hubs with $5 billion annual grants to invest in locally driven high-impact pre-disaster mitigation efforts
- Establish a National Catastrophic Disaster Insurance program to provide stability to individuals and communities
- Prepare military and foreign service for climate threats
- Launch a Climate Corps initiative as part of Pete’s New Call to Service
- Renew America’s Commitment under the Paris Climate Agreement and increase global climate goals
- Host a Pittsburgh Climate Summit of mayors and other officials to commit to decisive action in their communities in his first 100 days in office
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https://peteforamerica.com/climate
Climate catastrophe is on the horizon, and history will judge us for how we rise to meet this challenge. We have seen this problem evolve from a theory to a reality to, now, an emergency. Climate change impacts not only our coasts, but also farmers, small businesses, homes, and towns across the country. Communities from Pacific Junction, Iowa to Conway, South Carolina already feel the effects of extreme weather and changing rainfall patterns. In South Bend, Mayor Pete had to activate the city’s emergency operations center for 1,000-year and 500-year floods that came less than two years apart.
As temperatures and sea levels rise, so do the costs of food and flood insurance. New health issues from heat, air pollution, and the spread of infectious diseases are growing. From hurricanes devastating Puerto Rico to fires ravaging the Amazon, climate change is affecting everyone, everywhere.
This is the security challenge of our era. And we’re running out of time.
Experts tell us we have 10 years to get on the right path, or global warming will reach catastrophic levels by 2050. For too long, Washington has chosen denial and obstruction. But the timeline that compels us to act isn’t set by Congress—it’s being dictated by science. We must channel all of our energies into a national project—one that unifies Americans from every walk of life around this urgent threat and seizes the tremendous opportunity for a new era of climate action.
As big as this crisis is, our ideas and aspirations are big enough to meet it. We aspire to make our society a net-zero emissions one no later than 2050, working aggressively toward immediate targets.
Implementing this vision means tapping into the patriotism of every American and every sector of our economy. It means unleashing the power not only of the federal government, but also of cities, towns, and communities. It means tapping into the potential of rural communities to become part of the solution. It means helping industries that have provided so many families with a livelihood transform into clean energy leaders ready to provide for generations to come.
When we tell our children and grandchildren about what we did in this moment, we must tell them that we worked together, took bold action, and met the greatest challenge of our time—for ourselves and for them.
Read more about Pete’s plan to meet the climate challenge.
The first step of our plan is to work with Congress and existing executive authorities to implement a bold and achievable Green New Deal. We are setting a realistic plan to become a net-zero emissions society no later than 2050 based on a comprehensive set of targets and actions.
To achieve this, we will enact a price on carbon and use the revenue to send rebates to Americans. With money returned directly to their pockets, lower- and middle-class households in particular will experience economic gains.
We will also quadruple federal clean energy R&D funding to invest more than $200 billion over 10 years in developing new technologies. We will build three investment funds to spur clean technology development, including a $250 billion American Clean Energy Bank to fund locally-led clean energy projects, particularly in disadvantaged communities; a 10-year, $250 billion Global Investment Initiative to harness American innovation for clean energy and infrastructure projects around the world and counter China’s Belt and Road initiative; and a $50 billion American Cleantech Fund to fund demonstration projects.
Reflecting our commitment to bold and unifying change, we will create U.S. climate action bonds so that Americans can fund clean energy and resilience projects. We will decarbonize our economy through a Clean Electricity Standard, a Zero-Emissions Vehicles Standard, and a Clean Industrial Technology Standard. These investments will create 3 million high-quality jobs with strong worker protections by building a net-zero emissions grid, transportation sector, and building sector. We will support farmers as leaders on stewardship and conservation in the fight against climate change by paying them to capture carbon and fixing the Renewable Fuel Standard.
In addition to bolstering clean technologies, we will end subsidies for fossil fuel companies and close public lands to new fossil leases. And we must provide transition assistance for displaced workers and communities, through a 10-year, $200 billion fund for training and transition. We must simultaneously guarantee a robust social safety net, making retirement and health benefits available to all who want them. We will also offer loan guarantees to companies for renovating existing plants and assembly lines to build new low-carbon products and create jobs in their communities.
DAY 1
Launch the Clean Energy Victory Plan
100 DAYS
President Buttigieg submits the new U.S. Paris Climate Goal for 2030 and hosts local leaders at the Pittsburgh Climate Summit.
2025
Double the clean electricity generated in the United States.
2035
build a clean electricity system with zero emissions and require zero emissions for all new passenger vehicles.
2040
require net-zero emissions for all new heavy-duty vehicles, buses, rail, ships, and aircrafts and develop a thriving carbon removal industry.
2050
Achieve net-zero emissions from industry, including steel and concrete, manufacturing, and agriculture sectors.
Supporting Black & Latinx Communities
Communities of color are uniquely and disproportionately impacted by climate change. Read about how Pete's policy will specifically assist Black and Latinx populations.
READ MORE
Read more about Pete’s plan to ensure our communities are resilient to climate change.
We must protect communities by establishing next-generation Regional Resilience Hubs to help communities understand and manage their risks. The Hubs would be complemented by $5 billion per year in Resilient America Grants to support building resilient infrastructure and set a national climate risk reduction standard for federal investments. We will create a National Catastrophic Disaster Insurance program to provide stability to individuals and communities who experience the major disruptions caused by climate change and other natural risks such as earthquakes. And we will prioritize equitable disaster preparedness and relief so that all communities get the resources they need to prepare for, recover from, and rebuild from disasters, particularly communities of color; people with disabilities; seniors; and other populations especially vulnerable to climate impacts.
But joining global coalitions is not sufficient. We must also restore American leadership and put the world on a path to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals. We will rebuild our most important alliances and heal internal divisions by bringing together Americans right here at home. We will change how the federal government works on climate change solutions, sets aggressive standards and goals, and empowers state and local governments. We will convene local and regional leaders from around the country and world in a Pittsburgh Summit aimed at developing buy-in for decisive and bold climate action at a local level.
In the absence of congressional action on climate change, we will use every executive authority available to reduce emissions and require resilience in infrastructure. We will increase the climate planning and regional readiness budget at the Department of Defense (DOD) to allow our military leaders to build resilience for military bases and installations. We will also elevate and integrate climate security and resilience at DOD by creating a senior climate security role in the Secretary of Defense’s office responsible for managing climate security risks.
Read more about Pete’s plan to strengthen American leadership.
In the history of humanity, we have faced few crises like the threat posed by our changing climate. But the magnitude of the crisis can also galvanize us to rise to the occasion and build a safer, healthier, and more prosperous world. If we come together and harness the power of every American—from scientists and growers to students and auto workers—we will be proud of our response to this emergency.
Climate change is not partisan–it is make or break. If you believe we must take immediate action on climate change, text CLIMATE to 25859Paste your HTML here to convert.
MOBILIZING AMERICA
Rising to the Climate Challenge
The American people are facing one of the greatest tests in our history.Climate catastrophe is on the horizon, and history will judge us for how we rise to meet this challenge. We have seen this problem evolve from a theory to a reality to, now, an emergency. Climate change impacts not only our coasts, but also farmers, small businesses, homes, and towns across the country. Communities from Pacific Junction, Iowa to Conway, South Carolina already feel the effects of extreme weather and changing rainfall patterns. In South Bend, Mayor Pete had to activate the city’s emergency operations center for 1,000-year and 500-year floods that came less than two years apart.
As temperatures and sea levels rise, so do the costs of food and flood insurance. New health issues from heat, air pollution, and the spread of infectious diseases are growing. From hurricanes devastating Puerto Rico to fires ravaging the Amazon, climate change is affecting everyone, everywhere.
This is the security challenge of our era. And we’re running out of time.
Experts tell us we have 10 years to get on the right path, or global warming will reach catastrophic levels by 2050. For too long, Washington has chosen denial and obstruction. But the timeline that compels us to act isn’t set by Congress—it’s being dictated by science. We must channel all of our energies into a national project—one that unifies Americans from every walk of life around this urgent threat and seizes the tremendous opportunity for a new era of climate action.
“We must
channel all of our energies into a national project—one that unifies
every American, from big cities to rural communities, around this
urgent threat and seizes the tremendous opportunity for a new era of
climate action.”
As big as this crisis is, our ideas and aspirations are big enough to meet it. We aspire to make our society a net-zero emissions one no later than 2050, working aggressively toward immediate targets.
Implementing this vision means tapping into the patriotism of every American and every sector of our economy. It means unleashing the power not only of the federal government, but also of cities, towns, and communities. It means tapping into the potential of rural communities to become part of the solution. It means helping industries that have provided so many families with a livelihood transform into clean energy leaders ready to provide for generations to come.
When we tell our children and grandchildren about what we did in this moment, we must tell them that we worked together, took bold action, and met the greatest challenge of our time—for ourselves and for them.
Read more about Pete’s plan to meet the climate challenge.
PART I
BUILD A CLEAN ECONOMY
A proactive approach is crucial to remain competitive in a changing economy.“Transforming
our economy and ensuring a clean and prosperous future for our children
are audacious goals. They’re also achievable.”
The first step of our plan is to work with Congress and existing executive authorities to implement a bold and achievable Green New Deal. We are setting a realistic plan to become a net-zero emissions society no later than 2050 based on a comprehensive set of targets and actions.
To achieve this, we will enact a price on carbon and use the revenue to send rebates to Americans. With money returned directly to their pockets, lower- and middle-class households in particular will experience economic gains.
We will also quadruple federal clean energy R&D funding to invest more than $200 billion over 10 years in developing new technologies. We will build three investment funds to spur clean technology development, including a $250 billion American Clean Energy Bank to fund locally-led clean energy projects, particularly in disadvantaged communities; a 10-year, $250 billion Global Investment Initiative to harness American innovation for clean energy and infrastructure projects around the world and counter China’s Belt and Road initiative; and a $50 billion American Cleantech Fund to fund demonstration projects.
Reflecting our commitment to bold and unifying change, we will create U.S. climate action bonds so that Americans can fund clean energy and resilience projects. We will decarbonize our economy through a Clean Electricity Standard, a Zero-Emissions Vehicles Standard, and a Clean Industrial Technology Standard. These investments will create 3 million high-quality jobs with strong worker protections by building a net-zero emissions grid, transportation sector, and building sector. We will support farmers as leaders on stewardship and conservation in the fight against climate change by paying them to capture carbon and fixing the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“In
addition to bolstering clean technologies, we will end subsidies for
fossil fuel companies and close public lands to new fossil leases.”
In addition to bolstering clean technologies, we will end subsidies for fossil fuel companies and close public lands to new fossil leases. And we must provide transition assistance for displaced workers and communities, through a 10-year, $200 billion fund for training and transition. We must simultaneously guarantee a robust social safety net, making retirement and health benefits available to all who want them. We will also offer loan guarantees to companies for renovating existing plants and assembly lines to build new low-carbon products and create jobs in their communities.
DAY 1
Launch the Clean Energy Victory Plan
100 DAYS
President Buttigieg submits the new U.S. Paris Climate Goal for 2030 and hosts local leaders at the Pittsburgh Climate Summit.
2025
Double the clean electricity generated in the United States.
2035
build a clean electricity system with zero emissions and require zero emissions for all new passenger vehicles.
2040
require net-zero emissions for all new heavy-duty vehicles, buses, rail, ships, and aircrafts and develop a thriving carbon removal industry.
2050
Achieve net-zero emissions from industry, including steel and concrete, manufacturing, and agriculture sectors.
PART II
INVEST IN RESILIENCE
From sea-level rise to extreme heat, no region of the United States is immune to the impacts of climate change–many of which are already here and will continue for the foreseeable future. Climate-exacerbated disasters have cost more than $500 billion over the past four years, with the federal government funding a large portion of disaster recovery efforts. Often, low-income, Black, and Latinx Americans are hit first and hardest.Supporting Black & Latinx Communities
Communities of color are uniquely and disproportionately impacted by climate change. Read about how Pete's policy will specifically assist Black and Latinx populations.
READ MORE
Read more about Pete’s plan to ensure our communities are resilient to climate change.
We must protect communities by establishing next-generation Regional Resilience Hubs to help communities understand and manage their risks. The Hubs would be complemented by $5 billion per year in Resilient America Grants to support building resilient infrastructure and set a national climate risk reduction standard for federal investments. We will create a National Catastrophic Disaster Insurance program to provide stability to individuals and communities who experience the major disruptions caused by climate change and other natural risks such as earthquakes. And we will prioritize equitable disaster preparedness and relief so that all communities get the resources they need to prepare for, recover from, and rebuild from disasters, particularly communities of color; people with disabilities; seniors; and other populations especially vulnerable to climate impacts.
PART III
DEMONSTRATE LEADERSHIP
Confronting the threat of climate change mandates a global effort. We will renew America’s commitment under the Paris Climate Agreement. As climate change worsens, the Arctic Ocean will be on the front lines of its impacts. We will revitalize U.S. leadership in the Arctic Council so we can reduce emissions and oppose drilling in that region.But joining global coalitions is not sufficient. We must also restore American leadership and put the world on a path to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals. We will rebuild our most important alliances and heal internal divisions by bringing together Americans right here at home. We will change how the federal government works on climate change solutions, sets aggressive standards and goals, and empowers state and local governments. We will convene local and regional leaders from around the country and world in a Pittsburgh Summit aimed at developing buy-in for decisive and bold climate action at a local level.
“Joining global
coalitions is not sufficient. We must also restore American leadership.”
In the absence of congressional action on climate change, we will use every executive authority available to reduce emissions and require resilience in infrastructure. We will increase the climate planning and regional readiness budget at the Department of Defense (DOD) to allow our military leaders to build resilience for military bases and installations. We will also elevate and integrate climate security and resilience at DOD by creating a senior climate security role in the Secretary of Defense’s office responsible for managing climate security risks.
Read more about Pete’s plan to strengthen American leadership.
In the history of humanity, we have faced few crises like the threat posed by our changing climate. But the magnitude of the crisis can also galvanize us to rise to the occasion and build a safer, healthier, and more prosperous world. If we come together and harness the power of every American—from scientists and growers to students and auto workers—we will be proud of our response to this emergency.
Climate change is not partisan–it is make or break. If you believe we must take immediate action on climate change, text CLIMATE to 25859Paste your HTML here to convert.
Copyright © 2019 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in
Action.
All rights reserved.