Tonko's Climate Principles

March 21, 2019

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by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico's Morning Energy) (Paul D.) Tonko, the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee, says he wants to introduce a bill that would put a price on carbon and bring net U.S. emissions to zero by mid-century, Pro's Anthony Adragna reports this morning. "Carbon pollution has been free," Tonko said. "It's time to set a price onto that carbon pollution."

The New York Democrat will today lay out nine principles, including the need to ensure a "just and equitable" transition that avoids "disproportionate burdens" on low-income households and displaced workers. Tonko said those nine targets came together following 18 months of discussions and with input from climate scientists, economists, businesses, labor groups, environmental advocates, utilities and think tanks.

— Tonko will formally unveil the principles at the Climate Leadership Summit at 8:30 a.m. today in Baltimore. Watch his remarks here. READ MORE

Tonko unveils 'framework' for climate legislation (E&E News)

Key Democrat Paul Tonko unveils 'doable' climate change plan to attract Republicans (Washington Examiner)

Dem divisions deepen over approach to climate change (The Hill)

A Climate Action Alternative To the Green New Deal (Our Daily Planet)

Top Dem lawmaker rolls out climate plan to appeal to GOP (The Hill)

Outline of Common Principles for National Climate Action (Office of Paul D. Tonko (D-NY)

Key Democrat Paul Tonko unveils 'doable' climate change plan to attract Republicans (Washington Examiner)

Excerpt from Office of Paul D. Tonko: 1. Adopt Science-Based Targets for Greenhouse Gas Neutrality by Mid-Century
Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is an economic, public health, environmental,
and national security necessity.

Americans are already experiencing the costs and consequences of climate change.
According to the overwhelming scientific consensus, many serious harms caused by climate change will intensify as a result of continued warming. Under the Paris Agreement, nations of the world responded to this growing crisis by developing individual action plans and set a goal of limiting global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

Congress must enact policies that set certain and enforceable targets to put the United States on a path toward achieving net zero emissions by no later than mid-century.

2. A Clean U.S. Economy Must Be Strong, Competitive, and Fair
The United States can lead the world in clean energy, creating new jobs and industries
that carry added benefits including exporting American technologies, skills, and
services to countries around the world.
Millions of Americans work in clean energy industries today. Federal climate action doubles as an opportunity to grow the economy through investments in research, development, and deployment of technologies that will create millions of additional clean energy and advanced manufacturing jobs. Similarly, a significant number of quality jobs, if coupled with strong labor and procurement standards, will be created through building and modernizing America’s infrastructure in order to support the clean energy transition.

Congress must ensure emerging clean energy industries provide fair wages and safe working conditions. It must also protect America’s energy-intensive and trade-exposed industries from anti-competitive behavior by nations that have not taken significant steps to combat climate change.

3. Climate Action Should Invest in America’s Future
Federal climate action requires Congressional support for innovations in technology,
policy, and finance to accelerate the clean energy transition and bring down costs of
economy-wide decarbonization.

These investments should encourage energy efficiency; research, development, and
demonstration in clean energy technologies including carbon capture, utilization, and
storage; increased electrification across all sectors of the economy; deployment of cleaner transportation options as well as clean and renewable electricity resources supported by a modernized, smart, and flexible electric grid; carbon dioxide removal technologies; and natural climate solutions including improved management of forests, soil, and land use.

Investments in public lands, watersheds, and oceans can support additional economic
opportunities while sequestering significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and
creating more resilient communities and ecosystems. The federal government must dedicate the resources necessary to make a sustained commitment toward achieving ambitious mitigation goals.

4. Climate Action Should Deliver a Just & Equitable Transition
Confronting the climate crisis offers an opportunity to address historic environmental
injustices and create pathways of opportunity for all Americans.
Low-income communities, communities of color, and indigenous peoples are already
suffering disproportionate harm from climate change. Federal climate policy should respond to that hardship by investing in opportunities and support for communities in high-pollution and climate-exposed areas, as well as working to reduce dangerous co-pollutants that can significantly impact public health. Federal climate policies should encourage community based solutions by seeking public engagement and participation with vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.

Federal policies should also direct investments in deindustrialized and rural communities to help spur economic development and diversification. To the extent that economic changes displace workers and erode community-supporting revenue streams, especially in communities and regions historically dependent on traditional energy industries, the federal government should provide transition assistance in the form of guaranteed pensions and benefits, education and job retraining, relocation benefits, community reinvestment, and support for other new opportunities to share in the benefits of the growing clean energy economy.

5. Climate Action Should Protect Low-Income Households
Federal climate policy should avoid disproportionate burdens on vulnerable people.
Low-income households spend a greater portion of their incomes on energy-related
expenses. To the extent that climate policies might impact low- and fixed-income Americans, federal policy should offset any potentially regressive impacts on these households.

6. Climate Action Should Strengthen Community Resilience to Better Withstand New Climate Realities

Federal climate policies should ensure that all Americans are protected from climaterelated harms, regardless of where they live.

Americans are already being harmed by the consequences of climate change. While steps must be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent further long-term damage, federal climate solutions should also strengthen the resilience of infrastructure and help communities adapt to the increasing occurrence of natural disasters and extreme weather events, spread of diseases, and other impacts that threaten the public’s health and livelihoods. Investments that reduce the risk of these harms will more than pay for themselves over time.

Congress should also apply science-based adaptation policies to help ecosystems, fisheries, and wildlife threatened by climate change. Every agency and level of government must consider best practices to manage and minimize the risks posed by climate change when making investments in built and natural infrastructure, while recognizing that the long-term success of an adaptation strategy is diminished without a complementary mitigation strategy.

7. Climate Action Should Empower State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Governments
State, local, and community leaders are often in the best position to enact innovative
policies to manage or prevent climate damage—and many already have.

Each state and region faces unique climate challenges. While some approaches may require federal implementation, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments should receive the financial support, technical assistance, and flexibility necessary to pursue policies that help achieve national climate goals through specific means that are best suited for local conditions and implementation.

8. Climate Action Should Avoid Harm to First Movers
Many entities have already taken steps to confront the growing climate crisis.

Federal climate policy should, to the extent possible, complement work already being done by states, municipalities, businesses, and individuals. Whenever possible, it should avoid penalizing entities that have taken early action.

9. Climate Action Should Create Stable and Predictable Policies
Every stakeholder engaged in climate action, whether public, private, or non-profit,
needs to know that federal climate policies are durable and predictable.

Long-term climate progress requires policy certainty, which needs to come through statute and therefore requires action by Congress. Federal climate action must create steady, credible, and politically durable policies, send strong investment signals, and deliver longterm certainty to allow for proper planning and implementation while minimizing compliance costs. Regulators should have the flexibility to undertake periodic scientific reviews of goals, respond to changing conditions, and accommodate new developments in best practices and emerging technologies. READ MORE

Excerpt from Washington Examiner: Tonko's plan sets a longer-term plan of establishing a price on carbon emissions, a policy that has long eluded climate hawks.

“There needs to be a longer, deliberate debate and discussion about putting a price on carbon because carbon pollution today is free, and there is a cost to society of that on public health, public safety, and national security,” Tonko said, adding he is not ready to endorse a specific carbon pricing plan, such as a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system, the latter of which Democrats tried and failed to pass in 2009.

The Green New Deal, by contrast, does not mention carbon pricing — although it does not rule it out — and instead favors direct federal spending or mandates.

Tonko acknowledges carbon pricing “realistically won’t happen as quickly” as his other proposals, given significant Republican opposition.

Tonko said his plan, developed over 18 months, is “complementary” with the Green New Deal, which he did not co-sponsor, even though it differs with that plan in its underlying goal.

Tonko’s plan sets a target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, eliminating additional emissions of carbon by that time. The Green New Deal, in comparison, aims for the same goal by 2030.

The plan contains familiar short-term policy proposals also broadly supported by Republican leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee, such as Greg Walden of Oregon and John Shimkus of Illinois.

They include: building energy infrastructure such as transmission and distribution lines and upgrading existing equipment to buffer against extreme weather, improving energy efficiency in publicly funded projects, modernizing the electricity grid to accommodate the use of more wind and solar, and spending on research and development into clean energy technologies, including carbon capture on fossil fuel plants.

"All of that is doable in a bipartisan way," Tonko said.

The plan does not mention advanced nuclear energy research, which some Democrats support because of its zero-carbon profile, but Tonko did not rule it out.

His plan also proposes increased electrification across all sectors of the economy and incentivizing the use of cleaner transportation, such as electric vehicles and buses.

Tonko’s framework does draw inspiration from some big themes of the Green New Deal, such as emphasizing the need to help poor and minorities communities who are often forced to reside in less hospitable, industrial areas where they are exposed to environmental hazards.

Both plans also share an interest in providing support to coal miners and others whose livelihoods depend on fossil fuels, through guaranteed pensions, education and job retraining, and relocation help.

“I want to maintain an open mind as chairman of the climate subcommittee,” Tonko said. “We will need to be guided by these principles as we develop a coalition in the House to get this done." READ MORE