AOC-led 'climate unity' taskforce calls on Biden to cut carbon from power sector by 2035 and install half a billion solar panels
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who previously backed Bernie Sanders for president, was selected by Joe Biden to head up the task force alongside former secretary of state John Kerry
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Your support makes all the difference.The “climate unity” taskforce, led by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Secretary of State John Kerry, published their recommendations for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday.
After two months of meetings, the action plan to tackle the climate crisis includes eliminating carbon pollution from power plants by 2035; achieving net-zero emissions for all new buildings by 2030; and vast expansions of solar and wind energy, with the installation of 500 million solar panels and 60,000 onshore and offshore wind turbines.
They recommend retrofitting 2 million homes with energy-saving upgrades within five years and retro-fitting 4 million buildings, prioritising schools, hospitals and municipal buildings, in the same timeframe.
Also on a five-year plan is transitioning the entire fleet of 500,000 school buses to "American-made, zero-emission alternatives". To boost the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, they call for half a million public charging stations from coast to coast.
The policy roadmap avoids mention of the Green New Deal championed by progressives. It also sidesteps the contentious issue of fracking and does not call for a ban long hoped for by progressives but that could kill jobs in key election battleground states like Pennsylvania.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who previously backed Senator Bernie Sanders for president and is a leading proponent of the Green New Deal's ambitious climate policies, was selected by former VP Biden to head up the task force alongside Mr Kerry.
She tweeted on Wednesday that among the "notable gains" were shaving "*15 years* off Biden’s previous target for 100% clean energy".
She added: "Of course, like in any collaborative effort, there are areas of negotiation and compromise. But I do believe that the Climate Task Force effort meaningfully & substantively improved Biden’s positions."
Mr Biden had asked for recommendations to bolster his climate platform as he aims to appeal to progressives while simultaneously avoiding alienating more centrist Democratic voters in his bid to defeat President Trump.
The climate group is one of six "unity task forces", made up of supporters of Mr Sanders and Mr Biden, which also provided recommendations on health care, immigration, education, criminal justice reform and the economy.
The taskforce outlined bolder, more definitive targets than Mr Biden's current climate proposals which call for transitioning away from coal-fired electricity and halving buildings' carbon footprints by 2035.
"Climate change is a global emergency. We have no time to waste in taking action to protect Americans’ lives and futures", the group wrote at the top of the report.
The task force also called for immediately reversing the Trump Administration’s "dangerous and destructive rollbacks of critical climate and environmental protections".
"The Unity Task Force recommends rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and seeking higher ambition on Day One, putting the United States back in the position of global leadership where we belong," they wrote.
"Fairness and equity" is a central theme, with the taskforce recommending measures to protect vulnerable communities from the impacts of the climate crisis and the production of fossil fuels.
The taskforce recommends creating an environmental justice fund for federal agencies to invest in eliminating "legacy pollution" in minority and low-income communities, and strengthening tribal input in decisions and projects affecting their lands.
The report called for investments to create millions of well-paid jobs in the clean energy economy and in sustainable agriculture.
On fossil fuels, the report recommends the US ends financing for coal projects overseas and repeals fossil fuel subsidies. Infrastructure projects, both in the US and internationally, should have a "climate test" applied before receiving federal funding.
The taskforce also calls for a commitment to protecting 30% of America's lands and waters, and at least 30% of oceans.
Varshini Prakash, executive director of the Sunrise Movement and member of climate task force, told Associated Press that if Mr Biden makes the recommendations a central focus of his campaign, it can help bolster his support among young people, Latinos and working class voters.
She tweeted: "Here’s the topline: we’ve moved the needle a lot, especially on environmental justice and upping Biden's ambition. But there’s still more work to do to push Democrats to act at the scale of the climate crisis and towards the promise of a just society."
The Biden campaign told NBC that the former vice president “looks forward to reviewing” the taskforces' work.
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