Climate Change 2020: Can the Democrats Make It an Election Issue?

by Emily Holden and David Smith (The Guardian) Several hopefuls are embracing the effort for a Green New Deal – but success will require overcoming legislative hurdles -- ... It (Kentuckians for the Commonwealth) is also looking to create jobs to replace those that left with the mining companies as coal use declined.

Such ideas could now form the backbone of a national strategy that more and more Democrats are supporting and which will also aim to help slow the pace of climate change: a Green New Deal.

The concept has the backing of the 2020 presidential contenders Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and Elizabeth Warren and the likely candidate Bernie Sanders. The New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts senator Ed Markey will soon roll out a brief outline.

A Green New Deal will aim to spur jobs and tackle inequity. It will aim to help people of color and indigenous communities. And it will try to help places like Benham, Kentucky. But most importantly, people involved say, the document will push candidates for the White House to explain what they plan to do about climate change.

Then there is the legislative challenge a Green New Deal would present, even if all the groups involved could agree on the best way forward. So far, organizations are aligning around general aspirations, people familiar with discussions said. As concrete policy is generated, that will become more difficult.

One conflict will come around whether a Green New Deal can include nuclear power, which is carbon-free but runs on mined uranium. Another will regard the use of carbon sequestration, a technology to collect and store emissions from power plants, thereby letting them keep running.

Basav Sen, who works with a national consortium of groups, the Climate Justice Alliance, is against the inclusion of nuclear and carbon sequestration.

Working with unions, meanwhile, could make it hard to set specific goals for phasing out fossil fuels, because organized labor represents people working in coal, oil and gas, steel and concrete: all sources of greenhouse gases.

The plan could also divide Democrats in Congress. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland has been calling for a “green deal” including a carbon fee and dividend.

One such member was John Delaney of Maryland, who left the House last month in order to run for president.

In January, he told the Guardian: “There’s a way of doing something really big on climate change in my opinion: it involves putting a price on carbon … That’s the best way to do it: it’s a market-based solution. But suddenly some people are saying, ‘No, no, that’s not good enough, we’ve got to go further, we’ve got to basically ban carbon in 10 years.’ Now, that’s just not going to happen.

Julian Brave NoiseCat, a policy analyst for the climate group 350.org and a Guardian contributor, said: “Climate change and climate policy has been framed through tradeoffs, scarcity and sacrifice for so long.

“But what’s powerful about the Green New Deal is it frames it as: ‘We can build and provide millions of jobs and do phenomenal things for everyday people through climate policy.’” READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: INSIDE THE GREEN NEW DEAL: Climate advocates on the Hill will define their Green New Deal in the coming days without including one of the most ambitious goals its supporters have demanded: A commitment to cease fossil fuel extraction, sources told POLITICO's Zack Colman.

Sources say the resolution that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey are expected to soon introduce will include a goal for eliminating the U.S. carbon footprint by 2030. It also allows for "clean" rather than solely "renewable" energy — but does not explicitly call for eliminating fossil fuels, Zack adds.

Watch party: The Sunrise Movement is hosting livestream watch parties at 8 p.m. today that will lay out Sunrise leaders' plan and goals for gaining support for the upcoming resolution. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: BUILDING UP THE GREEN NEW DEAL: Organizers at the Sunrise Movement expect Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey to drop their Green New Deal resolution later this week and are planning hundreds of House and Senate office visits Feb. 11-12 to build momentum for it. The group wants lawmakers to decide whether they'll co-sponsor the resolution by Feb. 26. "They've got to get an answer to us by Feb. 26 or face the consequences," organizer Jeremy Ornstein said on a call late Tuesday.

Attraction yet to come: Sunrise teased the likelihood of mass protests at the Democratic presidential debates later this year. More info here. READ MORE