CNN journalists worked to coax out differences in climate and energy policies among a marathon of candidates on Wednesday night during a town hall centered on the climate crisis.
While the network’s event featured some wonky questions that excited climate hawks, including how candidates would respond to rollbacks on lightbulb efficiency requirements, the field’s frontrunners mostly made stark the major ideological differences dividing the Democratic Party.
Dropping behemoth climate plans has become a near-expectation in the 2020 Democratic field. Candidates pulled heavily from those documents Wednesday as Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren promoted the progressive policies in their Green New Deal-styled plans, while frontrunner and former vice president Joe Biden offered up a moderate’s take on climate action.
But the 10 participating candidates — conveniently scheduled back-to-back for viewers with the stamina to watch for an entire seven hours — also draw some more nuanced lines between their climate and energy policies and those of their peers.
While Biden wants to include nuclear, renewables and some fossil fuels in the net-zero emissions generation mix he envisions for mid-century, Sanders plans to transition to 100 percent renewables. Warren, who called her most recent policy drop “my plan for 100 percent clean energy,” clarified her position on Wednesday, noting that her administration would prohibit the buildout of new nuclear and phase out the technology by 2035 at the latest.
Both Warren and Biden said they would consider a carbon tax as part of implementing their climate policies (Sanders has supported one in the past).
Controversy over Biden’s plans to attend a Thursday fundraiser hosted by Andrew Goldman, a co-founder of natural gas company Western LNG, consumed much of the former vice president’s segment. Biden — who has signed a pledge refusing help from fossil fuel companies and executives — appeared confused about Goldman’s position within the company. The former vice president also said he would not ban fracking but would review past leases.
Biden’s tack echoed that of Senator Amy Klobuchar, who refused to ban fracking but said she plans to implement tough policies on methane leaks from the natural gas sector. Senator Kamala Harris said she would support an end to fracking. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Senator Cory Booker said they would end fracking on public lands. Both Warren and Sanders support nationwide fracking bans.
Though Warren and Sanders are regarded as the leftmost among Democratic 2020 contenders, the town hall illuminated some differences among the two as well. In a climate plan released in August, Sanders outlined plans to put electricity production in the hands of publicly-owned power market administrations.
That’s not the approach Warren plans to take, who said she’s “not sure that’s what gets you to the solution” and provided assurance for a growing clean energy industry.
“I’m perfectly willing to take on giant corporations … but for me I think the way we get there is we just say by 2035 you’re done. You’re not going to be using any more carbon-priced fuels,” she said on Wednesday. “If someone wants to make a profit by building better solar panels and generating better battery storage, then I don’t have a problem with that.”
Warren and Sanders do agree on the boons of renewable energy technologies. When pressed on a phaseout of nuclear, which provides baseload power, Warren pointed to energy storage as a possible solution. Sanders also noted an “explosion of technology” as cause for hope in confronting climate change.
“The truth is it costs a lot more to build a new nuclear plant today than it does to build solar or wind,” said Sanders at the town hall. “I think it is safer and more cost-effective to move towards sustainable technologies like wind, solar and geothermal.”
Biden also noted that he plans to double the rate at which the U.S. is currently installing solar and wind. In 2018, according to Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, the U.S. installed about 10.7 gigawatts of solar, a decline of 2 percent from additions in the previous year. The wind industry is slated to install 11.9 gigawatts in 2019 and 14.6 gigawatts in 2020.
Several candidates, including Biden, Warren, Harris and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, also floated plans for drastically increasing electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.
The Green New Deal — which many candidates credited for the very existence of a televised climate-focused town hall — also featured prominently, with candidates promising millions of good-paying jobs and support for marginalized communities that have faced disproportionate impacts from pollution and climate change.
As the primary progresses, expect that framing to continue playing a central role. Most candidates have incorporated environmental justice within their plans: notably, Harris, Castro and Booker. On Wednesday, Warren said her plan in that area is “not all the way stretched out yet,” but is on the way.
Source: Greentech Media
