In a marathon seven-hour town hall Sept. 4, Democratic presidential candidates detailed their plans to fight climate change, many of which propose reducing or eliminating fossil fuel use in the U.S. power and transportation sectors.
Several of the 10 contestants participating in the event also expressed hesitation to rely more on nuclear power despite its lack of carbon dioxide emissions, pointing to the absence of a long-term solution for disposing of the country's spent commercial nuclear fuel. But the candidates were far from unified on how quickly and in what ways they wanted to transition to cleaner energy sources.
Hours before the CNN climate town hall began, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is polling near the top of the crowded Democratic field, called for a full ban on hydraulic fracturing on both public and private lands. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey has endorsed phasing out hydraulic fracturing on public lands and blocking offshore oil and gas drilling. Several candidates, including former Vice President Joe Biden, want to block new permits for oil and gas production on federal lands.
"We will transition off of fossil fuels, natural gas, coal, oil … so that those things are something of the past," Booker said during his segment of the town hall.
Fossil fuels currently generate over half of U.S. electricity production. But many of the candidates have promoted shifting to 100% clean or renewable electricity in the coming decades and helping the U.S. economy achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Sanders' climate plan is particularly aggressive, calling for renewables to power the entire U.S. electricity and transportation sectors by 2030.
Biden has set more moderate climate and energy goals. During the town hall, he shied away from promoting a halt on fracking outside federal areas, saying the government has "less latitude" on state lands.
"We could pass national legislation, but I don't think we'd get it done in terms of getting the votes … to say all fracking that's going on now ends unless you can show that there's some physical security need or worry about exposure," Biden said.
South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has called for the U.S. to build a zero-emissions electricity system by 2035, said the U.S. cannot eliminate its coal use in 10 years but should still act swiftly.
"We envision that taking longer, but I will say that we've got to do it as quickly as humanly possible," Buttigieg urged.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota also took a more moderate tone about phasing out fossil fuels, suggesting natural gas as a transition fuel.
"I don't think we can phase [fossil fuels] out in a few years ... you have to do it over a period of time, you have to be aware of where people are working and how are you going to do this in a way that keeps our economy going and keeps our economy strong," she said.
Some Democratic White House hopefuls also voiced support for banning U.S. oil and gas exports, despite a compromise reached late in the Obama administration to end a more than 40-year ban on U.S. crude exports.
"I think we should in fact [ban U.S. fossil fuel exports], depending on what it is they're exporting for, what they're replacing," Biden said. "Everything is incremental."
Mixed views on nuclear
Participants differed on the role of nuclear energy in curbing climate change. Sanders, who has proposed stopping construction of new nuclear plants and ending license extensions for existing facilities, said the U.S. has "a heck of a lot of nuclear waste" and that building new nuclear plants will cost more than adding renewable capacity.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, another leading Democratic contender, also came out against nuclear power, noting the risks associated with spent fuel rods and the lack of a national long-term waste storage policy.
"In my administration," said Warren, "we're not going to build any new nuclear power plants, and we are going to start weaning ourselves off of nuclear energy and replacing it with renewable fuels" by 2035.
But Booker, a long-time advocate of nuclear power, gave a strong defense of the carbon-free energy source. "Nuclear is more than 50% of our non-carbon-causing energy," he said. "People who think we can get there without nuclear energy being part of the blend are just not looking at the facts."
Broad support for carbon tax
Most Democratic candidates, including Biden, Sanders and Warren, said they supported a tax on carbon emissions. In some instances, candidates proposed that revenues from the carbon tax or fee be distributed to households in the form of a rebate.
"These companies only operate on the bottom line. You can't say, 'Do the right thing' and then have all the executives get paid for making tons of money at the expense of the earth," entrepreneur and White House hopeful Andrew Yang said. "So what we have to do is tie people's incentives to doing the right thing and then you'll actually see their behavior change very quickly."
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas, however, said a cap-and-trade program was the "best possible path" for cutting greenhouse gases. He said it would set a legally enforceable emissions limit, thereby sending a clear price signal to regulated industries.
Although climate policies such as a carbon tax would need backing from the U.S. Congress, candidates listed several executive actions they would take immediately as president to address climate change, including recommitting the U.S. to the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Democrats at the town hall also advocated forming tougher methane emissions rules for oil and gas producers, reinstating the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan, and forming rigorous new vehicle fuel efficiency standards. Many of those actions would undo the Trump administration's efforts to ease greenhouse gas regulations for power plants and cars.
Furthermore, several candidates including Sanders, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and former U.S. Housing Secretary Julián Castro said they would fund their decarbonization and infrastructure plans in part through suing fossil fuel companies.
On the issue of climate change, said Harris, "it's not a question of debating the science, it's a question of taking on powerful interests, taking on the polluters, understanding that they have a profit motive to pollute. So let's take them to court and let's require that if they don't change those behaviors they will pay those fines and there will be accountability and consequence."
