Enviros Aren’t Happy with Democratic Party Policy

August 19, 2020

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(OK Energy Today/Politico) Environmental activists are complaining that the Democratic Party’s policy platform sent to delegates ahead of a final vote this week omits a call to end tax breaks and subsidies for fossil fuel companies — despite being approved by the party’s platform committee last month.

The language was approved in the July 27 “manager’s mark,” which the DNC confirmed to POLITICO at the time. But a DNC spokesperson said that “the amendment in question” was voted on in “error,” and that the Biden campaign, Sen. Bernie Sanders ‘ (I-Vt.) campaign and the amendment sponsors agreed to remove it. Neither the Biden nor the Sanders campaign responded to requests for comment.

Environmentalists said the provision’s absence, combined with Biden’s and the Democratic platform’s reluctance to call for bans on fracking and ending fossil fuel exports while allowing for carbon capture, storage and utilization technology, raised concerns about how aggressively a Biden administration would clamp down on the companies driving climate change. READ MORE

‘Climate Donors’ Flock to Biden to Counter Trump’s Fossil Fuel Money (New York Times)

Are Democrats wavering on oil subsidies? Biden-Harris climate platform remains fluid (MarketWatch)

DNC’s Flip-Flop on Fossil Fuel Subsidies Follows Deep Ties the Industry: The DNC quietly removed language from the party platform yesterday that endorsed an end to fossil fuel subsidies, after voting two years ago to allow itself to accept fossil fuel PAC contributions. (Sludge)

Democrats Quietly Cut Opposition to Fossil Fuel Subsidies From DNC Platform (Gizmodo)

Democrats backtrack and remove demand to end fossil fuel tax breaks from platform: Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris called to end subsidies for the oil and gas sector during the primaries (Independent)

Democrats Drop Demand To End Fossil Fuel Subsidies From Party Platform: Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris each ran on axing subsidies, but the party said including that in the final draft of the platform was an “error.” (Huffington Post)

Democrats' convention highlights their eco-radicalism (Washington Examiner)

MISSING FROM THE DNC PLATFORM: (Politico's Morning Energy)

Sponsor of climate language blasts DNC for stripping it from platform (Politico)

SIERRA CLUB CALLS ON DEMOCRATS TO REINSTATE PLATFORM LANGUAGE: (Politico's Morning Energy)

ETHANOL GROUPS PLEASED WITH SENATE DEMOCRATS’ CLIMATE PLAN (Brownfield Ag News)

U.S. presidential hopeful Biden says he would not ban fracking (Reuters)

Groups pressure Biden to exclude fossil fuel execs from team (The Hill)

Excerpts from Independent: Mr Biden's climate plan called for historic investment in clean energy which would be paid for, in part, by "ending subsidies for fossil fuels". The plan also called for the US leading the charge in a global ban on fossil fuel subsidies.

"There is simply no excuse for subsidizing fossil fuel, either in the United States or around the world," Mr Biden's climate strategy noted.

Senator Harris' plan also called to "end federal subsidies for fossil fuels and hold Big Oil accountable for its role in the climate crisis,” the Washington Post reported. (Her campaign website is no longer active). In 2017, she co-sponsored the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: SIERRA CLUB CALLS ON DEMOCRATS TO REINSTATE PLATFORM LANGUAGE: The Sierra Club is calling for the Democratic National Committee to reinstate language to the party platform calling for an end to tax breaks and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. The language had been included in a previous "manager's mark" but was ultimately removed from the platform sent to delegates this week, prompting outcry from environmental activists. The DNC said the amendment had been included in error, but the author of the amendment told POLITICO's Zack Colman the text was stripped without his permission and called the DNC's explanation "100 percent false."

"Instead of reassuring the American people that the Democratic Party is committed to putting public health over corporate polluters, the DNC has quietly endorsed Trump's recklessness," Sierra Club President Ramón Cruz and Vice President Ross Macfarlane wrote in a letter to DNC Chair Tom Perez on Thursday. They add that it is "past time to end fossil fuel subsidies." The Sierra Club board of directors recently endorsed Biden, whose campaign has doubled down on ending fossil fuel subsidies. READ MORE

Excerpt from The Hill: More than 100 climate and advocacy groups are asking Joe Biden's presidential campaign to commit to blocking fossil fuel representatives from its transition team or administration should the former vice president win the election.

“We urge you to ban all fossil fuel executives, lobbyists, and representatives from any advisory or official position on your campaign, transition team, cabinet, and administration,” the groups wrote in a letter to the campaign, which was signed by a mix of 145 environmental groups, progressive organizations, faith-based groups, and others.

The letter comes a day after Biden responded to a number of attacks on his energy policies from the Trump team while campaigning in Pennsylvania.

“I am not banning fracking,” the Democratic presidential nominee said. “Let me say that again: I am not banning fracking no matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me.”

...

Using their guidelines, anyone who served on a fossil fuel industry board or advised the industry should be barred from the administration, along with those who “receive funding from fossil fuel companies to espouse ‘reasonable’ climate positions.”

Their list would also nix “fossil fuel backers on Wall Street, who have attempted to profit off pollution.” READ MORE