New Deal Democrats Official Website
ENERGY, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION POLICY

 

Clothing Sweatshop in India Collapses
Over the last decade, flooding during high tide in this and other neighborhoods along Miami Beach's western edge has become a regular occurrence.

In the 2019-20 biennium, we support the reduction of carbon-burning energy systems and the expansion of solar and wind electrical generation, with a goal of replacing all carbon-burning systems with non-polluting systems at the earliest possible time. We accept that burning carbon fuels has changed Earth's climate faster than at any time in human history. We see that these changes in fresh water resources, food production, loss of coastal land and whole island nations, has disrupted both individual lives and entire community economies. We see that these changes have already led to wars and famines and tens of millions of refugees around the world. We believe drastic action must be taken now. As immediate initial actions, we demand the end of the leasing of any government lands for fossil-fuel extraction. We demand that no new leases for any fossil-fuel extraction be issued, and that all existing leases be reviewed to identify which can be terminated immediately for any violations by the producers. We propose that the requirement of a bond be imposed on any activity involving the extraction of fossil fuels, the disposition of waste from the extraction process, and the transportation of fossil fuels. We demand that the bond amount be high enough to pay the cost of recovering any damage caused in the extraction, disposal, or transportation. We expect that reasonable risk assessments will result in proposed bond amounts of tens of millions of dollars, or more, to pay for the expected damages that will result from more of the many fires, explosions, and poisoning of drinking-water systems, that we have seen in the past ten years. We demand that these clean-up costs be included in the producers' cost of production, and not left to the taxpayers or the bankruptcy court.

 

Our Principle: Climate Change is the greatest threat to the security of Americans. Climate Change, Energy Production, and Environmental Protection must be treated together. The fundamental principle is "Keep It In The Ground". Any carbon combustion contributes to adverse climate change, so carbon combustion should be minimized and in circumstances where carbon combustion is the only practical source of energy, the cost of repairing the damage done by carbon combustion must be included in the price of the use of that process.

Our Objective: Bring the American economy to a carbon-free energy system. The United States should operate our homes, businesses, government, and industry using energy that does not derive from burning carbon. The cost of that system should be shared by all members of society in an equitable manner proportional to the amount of energy used, so that those who use less energy do not subsidize those who use more energy..

First Steps:

(1) Enact Senate Bill 987, the "100 by '50 Act". Set the national goal of 100% renewable energy in the United States by 2050. Redirect the resources now used for carbon-sourced energy production, specifically American workers in the coal, oil, and natural gas industries, to production of energy from solar and wind sources.

(2) End leasing of federal lands and offshore areas for fossil fuel extraction. No new leases for gas, oil, coal, or any other fossil fuel. Terminate whatever existing leases for fossil fuel extraction can be lawfully terminated. For those existing leases that can not yet be terminated, increase the cost of those leases to the maximum possible. Strictly enforce all regulations related to those operations, with the intention that any current damage to the environment from operations is minimized and that the costs to repair any potential future damage to the environment is provided for, by the producer, in a manner that guarantees the financial responsibility of the producer regardless of whether the producer goes out of business or bankrupts. This means very large cash bonds for operations.

(3) Encourage non-carbon energy production, incorporate future-damage costs into carbon fuels:

(a) “The strong arms of the people of West Virginia, and Kentucky, and Virginia, and Ohio, and Pennsylvania, have dug the energy out of these beautiful mountains for two centuries to bring power to America, and some lost their lives and many lost their health doing it. Now that buried energy is almost gone, so that the industry has to tear the mountains down to get to the energy that's left. We will bring to these mountains machine shops that will make blades and generators and structural steel for windmills, and we will bring the construction jobs to build those windmills on these ridges to power America for the next two centuries. Rows of wind generators on ridgelines turning in the mountain wind, will provide that power to America without destroying our mountains or poisoning our people.” Provide incentives, in co-operation with IBEW and Machinists, to employers like General Electric and smaller machine shops, to open facilities in “coal country” to manufacture components for wind generators, and construct wind generators on mountain sites in constant-wind areas, focusing on sites that have been damaged by mining or clear-cutting timber operations.

(b) Provide incentives for on-site solar-powered electrical generating panels, to provide power to residences, businesses, government, and industry without the necessity of increasing grid capacity. Mandate on-site solar on federal government installations. Retain and enhance tax incentives for residential and commercial installations. America's largest retailer does this: it must be cost-effective.

(c) Closely regulate transportation of fossil fuels. (i) For transmission pipeline construction (as distinct from consumer distribution pipelines), require very large cash bonds sufficient to repair potential future damage from spills, explosions, and fires. (ii) For rail and truck transportation, require "hazardous materials" protocols, with cash bonds sufficient to repair potential future damages from spills, explosions, and fires. (Lac-Megantic, Quebec, 2013).

(d) Closely regulate waste disposal of well cuttings, used fracking fluids, contaminated soil, etc. Require large cash bonds sufficient to repair potential future damages, including water resource contamination (Charleston WV coal wash chemical spill in Elk and Kanawha Rivers, 2014).