Senate Democrats Outline Plan to Address Climate Crisis

On August 25, 2020, the Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis released a report, The Case for Climate Action: Building a Clean Economy for the American People, outlining a policy roadmap for addressing climate change. The panel, led by Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and comprised entirely of Democratic lawmakers, provides “a framework for Congress to finally do what is necessary to build the clean energy future.” The report makes several recommendations for tackling climate change, including increasing federal spending on climate action to 2 percent of gross domestic product annually in order to achieve 100 percent net-zero emissions by 2050. The report also sets forth a goal of creating 10 million new jobs and calls for net-zero global emissions by 2050. Notably, the plan would ensure that 40 percent of the benefits from federal climate investments “help communities of color and low-income, deindustrialized, and disadvantaged communities.” “We have the opportunity to build more and better jobs for the American people, jobs that’ll help re-stimulate the economy and aid in our transition to clean energy,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY). “When Democrats retake the majority in the Senate, we will unify to move swiftly on legislation to tackle the climate crisis. Passing climate legislation will be a top priority for Senate Democrats and for me.” Earlier this year, Democratic lawmakers in...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news