Bernie Sanders, the U.S. presidential candidate from the Democratic Party and the U.S. Senator from the state of Vermont, declared his energy and climate change plan on Monday.
Sen. Sanders said his plan includes cutting U.S. carbon pollution by 40 percent by 2030 and by over 80 percent by 2050 by putting a tax on carbon pollution. The plan aims to repeal fossil fuel subsidies and make investments in clean and sustainable energy, such as wind and solar power, and increase energy efficiency. It also targets the creation of 10 million jobs in the U.S. by creating a 100 percent clean energy system.
'Transitioning toward a completely nuclear-free clean energy system for electricity, heating, and transportation is not only possible and affordable, it will create millions of good jobs, clean up our air and water, and decrease our dependence on foreign oil,' he said in a statement as he announced his plan in Paris during COP21 climate talks.
Sen. Sanders, who is the longest-serving independent lawmaker in U.S. congressional history, said if elected U.S. president, he hopes to impose taxes on polluters, and return billions of U.S. dollars to working families and communities that are the most vulnerable to climate change in the country.
In his plan, Sanders, who is viewed as a social democrat, stressed that he would ban fossil fuels lobbyists from working in the White House, and end subsidies that would benefit fossil fuel companies.
'The fossil fuel industry spends billions and billions of dollars lobbying and buying candidates to block virtually all progress on climate change...the oil companies, coal companies and electric utilities spent a staggering $2.26 billion in federal lobbying since 2009 and another $330 million in federal campaign contributions,' the statement read.
'Right now, we have an energy policy that is rigged to boost the profits of big oil companies like Exxon, BP, and Shell at the expense of average Americans. CEO’s are raking in record profits while climate change ravages our planet and our people — all because the wealthiest industry in the history of our planet has bribed politicians into complacency in the face of climate change. Enough is enough,' Sanders said in the statement.
Stating that he would accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels to a clean energy future by banning fossil fuel leases on U.S. public lands, the senator said 'Scientists warn us if we continue burning fossil fuels, we will experience cataclysmic change...That means we must leave the vast majority of global reserves of coal, natural gas and oil in the ground.'
The democratic presidential candidate also said he wants to provide clean, domestic energy alternatives to power cars and trucks in the U.S., ban drilling in the Arctic and offshore, prevent the Keystone XL pipeline project that would carry crude oil from Canada's tar sands to U.S.' refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, stop export attempts of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), ban fracking also known as hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, and increase fuel economy standards in the U.S.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr