The Energy 202: Green New Deal Is Alive and Well in Liberal Cities and States

June 03, 2019

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by Dino Grandoni (Washington Post) The Green New Deal may be floundering in Washington. But it is alive and well in left-leaning states and cities across the country. From Maine to California, Democratic politicians have begun adopt the Green New Deal brand -- a progressive movement to dramatically tackle climate change over the next decade -- to describe their own contributions to address global warming.

Lawmakers in New York City are doing so when compelling landlords to cut climate-warming emissions from their skyscrapers. And Los Angeles leaders in this car-clogged, smog-choked town are doing it when pushing residents to drive electric vehicles.

All told, lawmakers in at least seven states have proposed various pieces of local legislation explicitly under the Green New Deal banner, according to the environmental group the Sierra Club, which is tracking the proposals. READ MORE

Old People Need More Energy, While GND Fires Up Young People (Our Daily Planet)

IN CALIFORNIA, GREEN NEW DEAL MEETS OPPOSITION: (Politico's Morning Energy)

The Daily 202: ‘Socialism is not the answer.’ John Hickenlooper discusses his Sister Souljah moment after boos in S.F. (Washington Post)

Biden unveils $5 trillion climate plan (The Hill)

Joe Biden embraces Green New Deal as he releases climate plan (Washington Post)

INSIDE BIDEN'S $1.7 TRILLION CLIMATE PLAN (Politico's Morning Energy)

Where 2020 Democrats stand on Climate change (Washington Post)

Environmental Justice Is Essential to Climate Justice, and Now it Has A Caucus (Our Daily Planet)

Dem Senators Announce Senate’s First-Ever Environmental Justice Caucus (Our Daily Planet)

Joe Biden’s Climate Plan (Our Daily Planet)

Joe Biden's climate plan leaves room for carbon price (Argus Media)

Illinois Democrats are split on the Green New Deal. But they all want a piece of the pie when it comes to climate change. (Chicago Tribune)

SEIU passes resolution in support of Green New Deal (SEIU)

SEIU Resolution in Support of the Green New Deal (SEIU)

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: IN CALIFORNIA, GREEN NEW DEAL MEETS OPPOSITION: Many of the 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls converged this weekend in San Francisco for the California Democratic Party convention, where they touted their priorities ahead of a March 3 primary in the state.

But, as Pro California's Carla Marinucci and Debra Kahn report, the confab also offered a glimpse into what will likely be Democratic trouble in Rust Belt states like Pennsylvania and Ohio: Labor's discontent with the Green New Deal.

Blue-collar union workers are looking to send a message that the party is at risk of eroding its support if it continues to back the Green New Deal resolution, the pair reports. "All it does is do what the Democratic Party seems to be very good at lately — which is export our jobs, while doing nothing for the end game, which is the environmental," said Robbie Hunter, president of the state Building and Construction Trades Council, which planned a "Blue Collar Revolution" demonstration at the convention.

The California Democratic Party also elected a new chairman this weekend: Rusty Hicks, who heads the Los Angeles Labor Federation. Hicks previously signaled labor's concerns by signing a letter in April opposing a move to ban a hazardous acid from refineries. That letter said it "will lead to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs for local people and cost our region millions of dollars in activity."

While it's highly unlikely Trump will win California, Jack Pitney, a veteran California political analyst and political science professor at Claremont McKenna College, said pushing too far on the Green New Deal could "make it difficult for Democrats to recapture crucial Western states" like Colorado and Nevada — "and it would certainly be an issue in states like Pennsylvania." READ MORE

Excerpt from The Hill: The "Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution & Environmental Justice" embraces the Green New Deal while setting a longer timeline of achieving net-zero emissions and a 100 percent clean energy economy.

Calling for a "clean energy revolution," the former vice president lays out a path to invest $5 trillion over 10 years to achieve the renewable energy goals. Nearly $1.7 trillion of that would be federal dollars, which Biden's campaign says will be paid by undoing the tax cuts enacted by President Trump and congressional Republicans.

Investments from state and local governments as well as private companies would push the total to $5 trillion.

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He also promised to refuse campaign donations from oil, gas and coal corporations or executives. A Biden campaign spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that as part of that policy, Biden would be committing to sign the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge organized by the youth climate group Sunrise Movement.

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Biden's plan does not call for a carbon fee on the fossil fuel industry in the U.S. and does not expressly champion renewable energy.

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Biden's climate platform is similar in size and scope to former Rep. Beto O'Rourke's (D-Texas), who also called for a $5 trillion investment, but falls short of the only other fully fleshed-out climate change platform in the 2020 presidential race, from Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D). READ MORE