Bernie Sanders Introduces Characteristically Bold Climate Plan to Overlap With Paris Talks
Politics
!
Days after democratic members of Congress descended on COP21—now entering its crucial final phase—to try and undo the rhetorical damage of their dipshit Republican colleagues, Bernie Sanders has introduced an extensive climate plan taking aim at the “billionaire fossil fuel lobby.”
On the website introducing his plan, Sanders puts a welcome Sanders-ian spin on climate action:
The scientists are virtually unanimous that climate change is real, is caused by human activity and is already causing devastating problems in the United States and around the world. And, they tell us, if we do not act boldly the situation will only become much worse in years to come in terms of drought, floods, extreme storms and acidification of the oceans. Sadly, we now have a Republican Party that is more concerned about protecting the profits of Exxon, BP and Shell and the coal industry than protecting the planet. While fossil fuel companies are raking in record profits, climate change ravages our planet and our people – all because the wealthiest industry in the history of our planet has bribed politicians into ignoring science.
Sanders’ plan, which the Washington Post notes “reads like an environmentalist’s wish list,” includes a pledge to cut emissions 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050, which would be achieved through a carbon tax—something that Congress has repeatedly blocked over the years, but which the global economy (including some oil companies) is beginning to align toward.