The Limits of Democrats’ Climate Progress – The New Republic

Thursday morning, the World Meteorological Organization released a report projecting that there is a one in five chance of global temperatures rising by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in the next five years, a line beyond which millions of livelihoods will become unviable and homes uninhabitable. In the midst of a summer that has already seen Siberia on fire, the prediction felt more than plausible.

The day before, a group of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders advisers focused on projecting unity in the Democratic Party released 110 pages worth of policy recommendations, starting with climate policy. The persistent sit-ins, climate strikes, and insurgent candidate success stories of the past four years seem to have accomplished this much: The policy recommendations contained in this document, like just about every other climate plan to emerge from mainstream nodes of the Democratic Party in the last year, are orders of magnitude more sweeping than anyone, even Sanders, would have thought possible in 2016. Thanks doubtless to the influence of the Sunrise Movements Varshini Prakash, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and other left-leaning members of the unity advisers climate segment, the documents climate goals are ambitious: zeroing out building and power sector emissions by 2030 and 2035, respectively; an embrace of environmental justice principles and targeted investments in this countrys most vulnerable communities; installing 500 million solar panels in five years; the creation of a Cabinet position for emissions reductions. Encouragingly, climate also makes an appearance in the recommendations of the economy and immigration recommendations.

Still, the recommendations for phasing out fossil fuels remain weak. The plan doesnt fully grapple with the crisis now gripping oil and gas companies and the financial sector that supports them. Few international commitments are suggested, leaving the United States to eat up most of the worlds remaining carbon budget.

The plans are better than they were. The plans are not enough. What are the plans for?

Though its ostensibly my job to analyze these kinds of climate plans on their own terms, the whole exercise is starting to feel pretty pointless. Documents like the task force recommendationslike presidential campaign platforms or the House Committee on the Climate Crisis reportreally only indicate where were starting from. So far, all the plans on offer will likely produce warming greater than two degrees Celsius. And thats a relatively rosy scenario.

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The Limits of Democrats' Climate Progress - The New Republic