The Energy 202: Bernie Sanders Announces a $16.3 Trillion Green New Deal

August 23, 2019

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by Dino Grandoni (Washington Post) Bernie Sanders released a comprehensive plan to address a “climate crisis” on par with the threat America faced during the Second World War, vowing to declare the global buildup of planet-warming gases a national emergency and to spend more than any other Democratic candidate has proposed to address the issue.

The independent Vermont senator, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, published a nearly 14,000-word “Green New Deal” on Thursday that aims to eliminate the use of fossil fuels from power plants and cars by the end of the next decade and to completely decarbonize the rest of the U.S. economy by the middle of the century.

It is also distinguished from the plans of his 2020 rivals by the fact that it would attempt to empower Sanders, if he were to be in the White House, to impose many of its components through executive action, a popular tool during the Trump and Obama administrations to enact environmental change.

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Echoing legislation he introduces perennially in Congress, Sanders wants to eliminate government subsidies for fossil-fuel companies. And going a step further than his two main Democratic rivals, Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, he promises to pursue a nationwide ban on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” a controversial technique for extracting gas that can sometimes contaminate groundwater.

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Citing the Fukushima meltdown and the Chernobyl explosion, Sanders's plan calls for a moratorium on not just new nuclear power plants but also on the license renewals of existing ones — despite the fact that currently one fifth of U.S. power comes from nuclear reactors, making it by far the nation's largest sources of low-carbon energy. Sanders also rejects the use of technologies that do not yet exist at scale — such as the capturing of carbon dioxide before it exits coal plants' smokestacks — calling them “false solutions.”

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To transform the way Americans move around on the ground, Sanders wants to provide $2.09 trillion in grants for consumers to buy electric passenger vehicles and $407 billion for school districts and other local governments to buy electric buses. He also wants to resurrect an Obama administration plan to invest $607 billion in building a high-speed rail system.

But the goal of taking every gasoline-guzzling car, pickup truck and SUV off the roads by 2030 is simply unrealistic, said Josh Freed, head of the clean energy program at the center-left think tank Third Way.

“It undermines the seriousness of the plan, and shows that it's just a political document,” he said. READ MORE

Excerpt from Sanders' plan: Transportation

We can and must transform our transportation sector away from fossil fuels to create a sustainable future for all and good-paying, union jobs right here in America. Transportation currently accounts for 29 percent of domestic emissions. We will create domestic energy alternatives to power our cars and trucks and move our transportation sector beyond oil by running our cars and trucks on renewable sources. We will build affordable, reliable, quick, and efficient public transportation, and high-speed passenger and cargo rail. And we will create millions of good-paying, unionized jobs building the automobile fleet of the future.

We will invest in nationwide electric vehicle charging infrastructure, to increase access to these resources for all, just as we built an interstate highway system in the 1950s and 1960s. We will move beyond oil toward an electric car. Concerns of cost and whether there will be access to a charging station have prevented many people from being able to choose this low-carbon option. We are going to change that. When Bernie is president, he is going to fully transform our energy sector away from fossil fuels, ensuring no one is priced out of this transition.

As president, Bernie will:

Fully electrify and decarbonize our transportation sector. We will create a federal grant and zero-emission vehicle program to create a 100 percent renewable transportation sector. Zero-emission vehicle programs are already having success all across the country. In order to transition to 100 percent electric vehicles powered with renewable energy instead of expensive fossil fuels, we will institute:
- Grants to purchase a new EV. Provide $2.09 trillion in grants to low- and moderate-income families and small businesses to trade in their fossil fuel-dependent vehicles for new electric vehicles. Currently, purchasers of electric vehicles are wealthier than buyers of conventional cars. As president, Bernie will make sure working families share the benefits of this transition and nobody is left behind.
Vehicle trade-in program. Provide $681 billion for low- and moderate- income families and small businesses for a trade-in program to get old cars off the road. Families with a conventional car will be able to access an additional incentive for trading in for an American-made electric vehicle. The Obama administration conducted a successful trade-in program that helped accelerate the transition to more efficient cars. We will expand on the program and make it stronger by requiring even higher efficiency and make it available only to cars manufactured in the U.S.
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure. In order to ensure that no one is ever stranded without the ability to charge their vehicle, we will spend $85.6 billion building a national electric vehicle charging infrastructure network similar to the gas stations and rest stops we have today. We will also ensure that new EV stations are open access and interoperable between all payment systems. Under our plan, drivers will no longer need to worry about where to charge their car or if they can pay for it.
School and transit buses. Provide $407 billion in grants for states to help school districts and transit agencies replace all school and transit buses with electric buses. The EPA classifies diesel exhaust as a probable human carcinogen, and this exhaust contains over 40 different chemicals and air pollutants that are classified as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Children on school buses are exposed to concentrations of these substances that can be 5-15 times higher than background levels negatively impacting their health and performance in school. Once older buses are replaced with clean electric buses, school districts will save in fuel and maintenance costs over the life cycle of the bus.
Replace all shipping trucks. Because this nation depends heavily on goods that are shipped all over the country by truckers, we must ensure that they are able to keep up their pace while we meet our climate goals. That means we must spend $216 billion to replace all diesel tractor trailer trucks with fast-charging and long-range electric trucks. Truck drivers from the largest fleets to small owner-operators will be able to access this funding.
Ensure the decarbonization of the transportation sector. When we are in the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation will assist in the decarbonization of personal and commercial vehicles through regulation, enforcement and technical assistance. President Trump weakened clean car mandates on auto manufacturing, which some manufacturers opposed. Our administration will work with schools, transit agencies, cities, states, and private companies to establish standards for auto manufacturing to be 100 percent sustainable by 2030.
Build public transit that is affordable, accessible, fast, and resilient.
With a $300 billion investment, we will increase public transit ridership by 65 percent by 2030. We will ensure that reliable, affordable public transit is accessible for seniors, people with disabilities, and rural communities. In addition to expanding transit service to communities, we will promote transit-oriented development to link this service to popular destinations and vital community services. For too long, government policy has encouraged long car commutes, congestion, and dangerous emissions. The Green New Deal will reverse these trends and create more livable, connected, and vibrant communities.
Build regional high-speed rail. Many other developed nations have advanced high speed rail systems. A $607 billion investment in a regional high-speed rail system would complete the vision of the Obama administration to develop high-speed intercity rail in the United States. This new system will give travelers a meaningful affordable alternative to plane or car travel between major cities. The reason high-speed rail has not worked in the United States is because we have not built the political mobilization needed to demand the funding needed to complete this vision. Together, we will create the movement needed to develop high-speed rail.
Retrofit dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure. In 2013, 800,000 gallons of crude oil was spilled in railroad accidents. In 2014, an average of one oil train derailed every five days. The Federal Railroad Administration will adopt new rules requiring companies to retrofit the coal and oil bomb trains to prevent explosions, derailments, and spills. We will take similar action to protect communities’ well pads, substations, compressor stations, and pipelines as we remove fossil fuels to better protect communities that never asked to be cited in their footprint.

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Research and Development

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Invest in decarbonizing the shipping and aviation industries as soon as possible. The science is clear that the entire global economy must decarbonize by 2050 at latest if we hope to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. We must be extremely careful to ensure that as we do this, we make sure that domestic manufacturing and clean economy industries thrive. The federal government must identify and commercialize technologies to ensure the globe is able to fully decarbonize by 2050 at latest to meet the goals in the IPCC report. We will fund a $500 billion effort to research technologies to fully decarbonize industry, and a $150 billion effort to fully decarbonize aviation and maritime shipping and transportation. READ MORE

How to De-Fossilize Your Fleet: Suggestions for Fleet Managers Working on Sustainability Programs (Advanced Biofuels USA) PDF

Trump’s wall is child’s play compared to Bernie Sanders’s climate plan (Washington Post (Davide von Drehle);includes VIDEO)

If you take climate change seriously, get on the Bernie bus (Washington Post (Hugh Hewitt))

Sanders’s climate proposal is the best way forward (Washington Post (James Downie))

Bernie Sanders’s climate plan will take us nowhere (Washington Post)

Bernie Sanders’ Big, Bold Climate Plan (Our Daily Planet; includes VIDEO)

Climate Protests At G7 as New Study Shows Warming Will Cause Major Economic Hit (Our Daily Planet)