How to end our dependence on fossil fuels
This is a breakout post from my larger post on climate change: How the U.S. could tackle climate change
By far the most complex step to combating climate change is how to end our dependence on fossil fuels. To dig into how we might do this, I analyzed five of the most influential national climate policy plans: Biden’s, Warren’s, Sanders’, and Buttigieg’s climate policy platforms, as well as the original Green New Deal legislation led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
To transition our world to one where a carbon free lifestyle is the cheapest, easiest, and most appealing option, these plans focused on accomplishing six things:
Increase the supply of renewable energy sources
Reduce the cost of renewable energy by increasing how much we have.
Develop technology to make carbon-free choices cheaper
Enable more efficiency with new technology to make carbon free choices cheaper.
Upgrade and replace old infrastructure
Ensure our physical infrastructure is sustainable for the long term.
Make it harder to make money using fossil fuels
Create disincentives for businesses and countries to use carbon.
Make it easier to make money using sustainable practices
Create positive incentives and support for businesses and countries using sustainable practices.
Encourage use of and connection to the outdoors
Improve our outdoor spaces and lower the barrier to entry to encourage a feeling of connection to nature and a desire to preserve it.
For those that want to see what ideas have been proposed in each of these areas (and by whom), below I’ve organized the detailed policies and ideas from the five policy plans I reviewed under this framework.
Read about the other four key components of combating climate change in my larger post, How the U.S. could tackle climate change.
Increase the supply of renewable energy sources
Reduce the cost of renewable energy by increasing how much we have.
Harvest renewable energy on public lands
Leverage federal lands for renewable resources, such as offshore wind. [Biden]
Consider nuclear energy
Candidates are split on the use of nuclear energy. Biden and Buttigieg support it, while Sanders does not. Warren has stated she would not build more but would keep existing nuclear plants working.
Expand Power Marketing Administrations
PMA’s currently operate and sell electrical output from federally-owned hydroelectric dams in 34 states. The proposal is to add one additional PMA to cover the additional states, and expand all of the PMA’s to also cover wind, solar, energy storage, and geothermal energy. [Sanders, Warren]
Respect the rights of tribal lands
No federal projects or other infringements of sovereignty over tribal lands without prior consent. [Buttigieg, Sanders, Warren, Green New Deal]
Ensure equitable land management
Include state, local, and tribal stakeholders in managing public lands.[Warren]
Develop technology to make carbon-free choices cheaper
Enable more efficiency with new technology to make carbon free choices cheaper.
Conduct general research
General R&D funding for unspecified clean energy research. Typically suggested to be between $200–500 billion over 10 years. [Sanders, Biden, Warren, Buttigieg]
Decrease cost of energy storage
Focused research and development on decreasing cost of energy storage.[Sanders, Warren] This is important because right now energy storage is very expensive, meaning utilities ramp up or down production from plants depending on demand, rather than more efficiently storing energy for later use.
Explore shipping and aviation improvements
Shipping and aviation combined account for roughly 5% of global carbon emissions. No one really currently knows how we’re going to decarbonize these industries economically. [Sanders, Warren]
Investigate carbon sequestration
Research for reducing the cost of sequestering carbon and other greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. [Biden, Buttigieg, Green New Deal]
Develop new agricultural technology
Research for decarbonizing agriculture and developing more efficient farming techniques. [Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg]
Upgrade and replace old infrastructure
Ensure our physical infrastructure is sustainable for the long term.
Modernize electricity grid
Invest in modernizing our electricity grid and building energy storage capacity. [Sanders, Green New Deal]
Upgrade public water infrastructure
Invest in modernizing our drinking water and wastewater infrastructure and ensure everyone has access to clean water. [Sanders, Biden, Warren, Green New Deal]
Provide clean energy usage information
Create programs to help Americans understand how clean the energy is they’re using to help them make more informed choices about energy usage. [Buttigieg]
Achieve zero emissions for non-combat Department of Defense infrastructure
Direct Pentagon to achieve net zero carbon footprint for all non-combat vehicles and facilities. [Buttigieg, Warren]
Expand affordable clean electricity access
Expand federal programs for low income home energy assistance. [Buttigieg, Sanders]
Provide clean energy transition incentives
Provide subsidies, tax incentives, and grants to lower costs of clean energy adoption and move more non-electric energy uses to clean electricity. [Buttigieg, Sanders, Warren]
Assist consumer owned energy cooperatives
Assist consumer-owned coops in getting out of long-term contracts to assist their transition to clean energy [Warren]. Additionally, facilitate starting new consumer-owned coops [Sanders]. These energy coops currently provide energy to 42 million people in the United States.
Invest in public transportation
This includes investing in buses, high speed rail systems, and upgrading existing transit to be carbon neutral. [Buttigieg, Sanders, Biden, Green New Deal]
Consumer incentives for clean vehicles
Boost consumer demand for zero emission vehicles through tax credits and trade-in incentives. [Warren, Sanders]
Build EV charging infrastructure
Build public electric vehicle charging stations across the United States to facilitate EV adoption. [Biden, Sanders, Green New Deal]
Retrofit buildings
Create incentives to retrofit buildings to be more energy efficient. [Biden, Sanders, Warren, Green New Deal]
Build denser, more affordable housing
Alter local regulations to encourage denser, more affordable housing, thereby reducing commute and transportation requirements and energy consumption. [Biden] Build 7–10 million additional units of affordable housing. [Sanders, Warren]
Support automotive manufacturing transitions
Provide federal support through loan guarantees and federal investment to modernize automotive manufacturing for the construction of electric vehicles.[Buttigieg, Warren]
Transition to sustainable agriculture practices
Provide federal funding to help farmers and ranchers adopt higher efficiency, more sustainable farming practices. [Biden, Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, Green New Deal]
Reform agricultural production and supply incentives
Reform the agricultural subsidy system and engage supply management programs to avoid overproduction. [Sanders]
Localize food production and distribution
Invest in local food production and distribution, such as providing assistance for cooperatively owned grocery stores, transforming private lawns into food producing or reforested spaces, incentivizing schools to produce their own food, and expanding food recovery and composting programs. [Sanders]
Replace trucks
Replace all shipping trucks to be carbon neutral. [Sanders]
Upgrade railroads
Upgrade and expand our rail infrastructure to help prevent spills and facilitate shipping by rail. [Sanders, Biden]
Improve road infrastructure
Increase federal funding for roads. [Sanders]
Clean up waste
Clean up existing old fossil fuel infrastructure and toxic waste sites around the country, including nuclear waste. [Sanders, Warren]
Equitable job creation & investments
Focus efforts on leveraging all these required infrastructure changes to create millions of new jobs as we transition to a carbon neutral economy. Special attention must be paid to creating these jobs in a way that they are distributed equitably and are available to low income and disadvantaged communities. Additionally, ensure new jobs meet strong labor standards with strong worker protections. [Biden, Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, Green New Deal]
Make it harder to make money using fossil fuels
Create disincentives for businesses and countries to use carbon.
Ban fossil fuel extraction
Ban as much domestic fossil fuel extraction as possible such as fracking, offshore drilling, and coal mining. Also end any international support for fossil fuel projects. Candidates vary in their levels of proposed bans. [Sanders, Biden, Warren]
Ban import and export of fossil fuels
To reduce incentives for production. [Sanders]
Reinstate pollution limits
Reinstate and/or create pollution limits for methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrofluorocarbons . [Biden, Sanders, Warren, Green New Deal]
Enforce stricter pollution penalties
Raise penalties and direct EPA and DOJ to prosecute corporate polluters. Increase our ability to measure pollution and contaminants to better hold companies accountable. Ensure individuals can sue companies for damages from pollution. [Biden, Sanders, Warren]
Pursue retroactive legal action
Sue and generally attempt to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for pollution and environmental damage. [Sanders]
Encourage divestment from fossil fuels
End investment in fossil fuels and high carbon footprint portfolios domestically and internationally. Examples include divesting federal pensions and pressuring the IMF and World Bank to divest internationally. [Sanders,Warren, Biden]
Require corporate climate risk disclosure
Require public companies to release detailed information regarding their own emissions as well as a risk assessment for how climate change will affect the company if unaddressed. [Biden, Warren]
Charge for carbon
Make it more expensive to produce and consume high carbon goods and services. This could be taxes on fossil fuel infrastructure owners, forced purchasing of climate risk bonds to fund climate related disasters, and/or carbon adjustment fees on imported goods with a high carbon footprint to prevent them from undercutting higher regulations in the United States. [Buttigieg , Biden, Sanders]
Stop fossil fuel subsidies
Stop the $20 billion per year federal subsidies for fossil fuel production such as oil, gas, and coal. [Buttigieg , Sanders, Warren]
End export subsidies for high-carbon products
Seek G20 and global commitment to end all export finance subsidies for high-carbon products. [Biden, Buttigieg]
Enforce climate related pre-conditions to trade agreements
Require countries be in the Paris Climate accords and eliminate fuel subsidies as a precondition for trade agreements. [Warren]
Require fossil fuel company cleanup
Require fossil fuel companies to repair leading infrastructure such as gas and oil pipelines and drilling sites. [Sanders]
Reprioritize International Monetary Fund debt forbearance
Reform the International Monetary Fund on to take climate costs into account in international debt forbearance, making high carbon projects risker and more expensive by putting them at the end of the line. [Biden]
Shame poor performers
Publish yearly reports shaming countries for failing to meet climate standards and create a new designation for countries with poor environmental practices. [Biden, Warren]
Make it easier to make money using sustainable practices
Create positive incentives and support for businesses and countries using sustainable practices.
Protect green product subsidies
Protect green product subsidies and preferences from World Trade Organization challenges. [Warren]
Promise Federal procurement
Create large federal procurement commitments for clean energy and require federal agencies to only use clean energy in order to generate demand for clean energy and incentivize its production. [Biden, Buttigieg, Warren]
Offer assistance to other countries
Offer financial and technological assistance to other countries, especially Belt and Road countries, to help them transition to sustainable economies and clean energy. [Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg, Warren, Green New Deal]
Strengthen collaboration in the Americas
Agree upon standards for making manufacturing, mining, and tourism, agriculture, and land use more sustainable. Create a more integrated energy grid from Mexico through Central America and Colombia to facilitate the adoption of clean energy. Assist in resilience [Biden]
Encourage use of and connection to the outdoors
Create positive incentives and support for businesses and countries using sustainable practices.
Increase land and water protections
Create new national parks, monuments, and protect additional land. Also, restore protections to all lands unprotected by the Trump administration.[Biden, Warren]
Fund Land and Water Conservation Fund
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a bipartisan law from 1964 to use money from oil and gas extraction to fund land and water conservation, including recreational areas, water resources, and cultural heritage. Currently, portions of this fund are diverted to other causes, leaving a deficit. This proposal makes it mandatory to fully fund the LWCF every year. [Sanders, Warren]
Make national parks free
Opening public lands to allow more people to see them could increase public support to preserve nature. [Warren]
End National Park maintenance backlog
Fully fund and repair all items on the current $11 billion National Park deferred maintenance backlog. [Buttigieg, Warren, Sanders]
Increase land afforestation
Restore natural ecosystems that increase soil carbon usage and protect fragile ecosystems. [Green New Deal]
Sources are included in the parent post, How the U.S. could tackle climate change.
