Saving Our Planet
Rising sea levels, the erosion of land and infrastructure, and harmful food production makes global warming of the greatest dangers to our world. We must take bold action to combat this threat.
"Human-induced climate change is the largest, most pervasive threat to the natural environment and societies the world has ever experienced."
- The United Nations Human Rights Council
The issue
The United Nations reports that we will be “beyond reach” of a “liveable future” by 2050 if we fail to curb the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming. Unchecked global warming wreaks havoc on human and animal communities, harms our land, and will cost us billions of dollars if we don’t act now. Unfortunately today, the US lags behind nearly all other OECD nations in transitioning to clean energy, while fossil fuel companies sabotage climate reform. We must shift to renewable energy sources, crack down on corporate emissions, invest in green infrastructure, and promote innovation in the US energy sector in order to save our planet.
Read the detailed policy fact sheet:
How we fix it:
🔋 Transition to clean energy
Set and enforce clean energy adoption targets
Two-thirds of US energy comes from fossil fuels, which release the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming. We must shift energy production to renewable energy sources that don't harm our environment, starting with setting and enforcing formal clean energy adoption targets in accordance with IEA standards.
Invest in clean energy infrastructure and tech
By investing in energy-efficient infrastructure and technologies, we can phase out reliance on fossil fuels. We must focus on our transportation sector (the number one greenhouse gas emitter) by investing in innovative biofuels and electric vehicles, and end-user energy efficiency.
Invest in biofuels
The US transportation sector is our #1 greenhouse gas emitter. The development of "biofuels" (fuel developed from clean energy sources) will make the industry less dependent on oil. We must expand R&D funding for these projects and equip key agencies like the Department of Energy with the resources to develop them.
Shift energy subsidies to renewables
The fossil fuel industry receives trillions in government subsidies (funding) for energy production. This is egregious in light of the “enormous profits these companies are raking in at the expense of consumers." We must redirect these subsidies toward developing clean energy sources, not the dirty fuels that are killing our environment.
Facilitate data-sharing on renewables
Good data is critical to developing smart targets and policies. Expanding data collection on renewable energy, monitoring their progress, and promoting data sharing between organizations will allow for greater collaboration and produce better outcomes.
Promote grid access
Per the IEA, “new renewables installations can face excessive costs connecting to electricity grids, which can in turn undermine competitiveness.” We must remove the barriers to entry that limit new entrants in the clean energy space from competing.
🏭 Crack down on corporate emissions
Tax corporations based on their emissions
90 corporations are responsible for two-thirds of total greenhouse gas emissions. But they aren’t taking the steps needed to reduce them. We must impose a tax on each ton of greenhouse gas emissions corporations emit, incentivizing them to switch to clean energy sources in order to reduce emissions and avoid the tax.
Provide tax credits for 'carbon capture'
Implementing clean energy solutions to reduce emissions can come with prohibitive upfront costs for some companies. Tax credits like 45Q give businesses a credit per metric ton of CO2 captured and stored permanently.
Place restrictions on power plant emissions
A House Oversight investigation found that “fossil fuel companies do not have plans to transition their energy production at the pace required to address climate change," "despite public pledges." We must empower the EPA to cap carbon emissions.
Force companies to fully disclose emissions
Our government gives billions in subsidies to companies that refuse to disclose their fuel emissions, like Tesla who is “among the 15% of the world’s largest companies that do not disclose their greenhouse-gas emissions.” We can't enforce emission standards when we don't know how much companies are emitting.
🌊 Protect our land
Enhance water and air protections
Two-thirds of Americans believe our federal government is doing too little to protect water and air quality. In our modern, wealthy country, no community should live with poisoned water and air – yet for areas like Flint, Michigan, that’s their reality. The White House has proposed new regulations to reverse the Trump administration’s rollback of these protections.
End leases for offshore and public-land drilling
Per the Earth Justice Institute, “leasing public land to oil and gas companies is a death sentence.” Under today’s federal leasing program, “private companies carve up public lands and waters to extract fossil fuels. This is a bad deal for us and the environment.” We need to end leasing for drilling projects on offshore and public lands.
Phase out fossil fuel drilling entirely
The CBF reports that “normal offshore drilling operations release volatile compounds, greenhouse gasses, and other air pollutants.” Drilling fluids “often leak and are splashed around drilling sites.” These incidents “have devastating effects on local wildlife through direct contact, inhalation and ingestion of toxic chemicals.” And they hollow out the public lands available for citizens’ recreational use.
End the sale or transfer of public lands
Today, the federal government is permitted to sell off public lands to the highest bidder. Instead of being used by American citizens, these public lands become bastions for corporations to drill more. Legislation like the America's Public Land Act of 2019 would prohibit any secretary of the Interior or Agriculture from selling public lands.