Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

A 27 year old doctoral candidate from Northwestern University - scientists at Exxon knew 40 years ago fossil fuels would destabilize the planet. Their trade/industry orgs have waged a decades long campaign of lying to public about the science and now it threatens the human race.

Biden signed no fossil fuel money pledge,but "how can Biden be trusted to hold them accountable for crimes against humanity when tomorrow you are holding a high dollar fundraiser hosted by Andrew Goldman a fossil fuel executive"

Biden immediately says he is not. Andrew Goldman provides Canadian gas to parts of Asia as head of Western LNG.
Incidentally, the Intercept reported on this earlier today.
For your consideration:
theintercept.com/2019/09/04/aft…

Biden says now "I didn't realize he had done that."
Biden says he looked at SEC filings, but will look again and find out if its accurate.
Cooper says "I think its accurate."

It's accurate.

Biden proposes a $1.7T investment. 2050 as deadline to achieve net carbon emissions but also suggests implementing a 2025 for Congress to set a fee or tax on polluters. Biden’s lost this legislative fight before.

Again, when Obama attempted a carbon tax in 2010, it died in a Democratically-controlled Congress.
Separately, Biden has vowed to place $400B into R&D, nix new permits for oil and gas development on public lands and shore up coal industry laborers through retraining.

Biden says nothing is going on to demand change. We need a diplomat in chief, he says, it's in his wheelhouse, he's "done it his whole career."

Questioner says: even though Obama knew of climate crisis in 2008, he spent political capital on health care and didn't enact systemic change needed to address climate change. What will Biden do? Joe said everything landed on Obama's desk but locusts.

Biden says the GND "doesn't have a lot of specifics" about exactly what can be done to address climate crisis and how to get to net-zero emissions, what programs to move on.

This isn't exactly true, and it is evidenced by plans supported tonight by several candidates.

For example, you can read about my run-through of Sanders plan released last month. With the largest proposed cost, it is also objectively among the most detailed. More on that: courthousenews.com/bernie-sanders…

Biden asks for 500K electric charging stations as part of his plan. It would revitalize auto market, we could sell these goods to the rest of the world.
Some ppl will be displaced, he notes, but says we can't say automatically people will have to make solar panels.

Biden says when it comes to developing on state lands, it's time to look at what exists now and make a judgment on what wells are dangerous or have "already done the damage." He wouldn't call on current ban, just stop new on federal lands..

A former Trump voter says he is disenfranchised. Wants to vote for a Dem in 2020. What will Biden do to get China on board with reducing carbon emissions?
Biden says we have to "up the ante" but is short on specifics.

"You can't preach to the choir if you can't sing. We have to demonstrate what we will do and call the rest of the world to account."
Cooper asks about net energy exporters - should the U.S. ban fossil fuel exports?
Biden: We should, depending on what they're exporting.

Says everything is incremental.
For example, mass transit and high speed rail, we could take million of vehicles off the road if we had high speed rail that was time/energy efficient.
Will everyone drive electric?
Biden: Based upon whether its economically feasible and it is.

Notably, Biden's arguments often begin in the framework of "We can't do this but..."

What happens when insurance companies stop covering damage from fire, flooding, climate disaster?
Biden says, back in DE, his home state, they've pulled people back from building on coastlines. The people already there however, will be in real trouble.

"Eventually, insurance companies will say "I can't insure that." We have to be in a position where we don't build back to normal but to what is necessary," Biden says.
He cuts himself off however, says he is going too long.
Cooper doesn't disabuse him of this notion.

This question about the role insurance companies will play as the climate crisis continues to pummel the U.S. is a really important one.
What happens when the rug pulls out, before the other, bigger rug is pulled out?

Biden recalls when he and Obama first entered WH; greatest danger facing military was climate change. The single greatest concern for war and disruption in the world, short of an immediate nuclear exchange.
He's right on this.
Background: courthousenews.com/climate-change…

We're back on Andrew Goldman, Anderson Cooper says he isn't active on day-to-day responsibilities.

That wraps it for Biden. We're onto Sanders next and then Warren and then Buttigieg and Booker.

.@BernieSanders now up, to much applause, notably.
A man who works in the restaurant industry notes how Sanders is specifically willing to spend $16Ton climate. He says he will tax fossil fuel companies, but idea of addressing climate change is eliminating fossil fuels right?

Sanders starts by saying that Trump is wrong on climate. Emphasizes need to make massive changes away from fossil fuels in the next 11 years, the damage done to US will be irreparable.
His plan is "largest most comprehensive program ever presented by any candidate in US history"

When ppl say it isn't realistic, he says, let me ask you this: is it realistic to create a planet that is uninhabitable for our children and grandchildren? This is a moral responsibility to act boldly and yes, it will be expensive, he acknowledges.

Public power concepts will be expanded to include wind and solar, US can turn a profit when selling our resources to electric companies around the world.
Pulling funds away from MIC, from oil-seeking ventures, another way to tackle.

Can Sanders guarantee that the responsibility for $16T won't end up on taxpayer shoulders?
"Well, it will if you're in the fossil fuel industry. You'll be paying more, that's for sure," Sanders says.

.@sunrisemvmt activist asks where he stands on filibustering? Sanders says we need major filibuster reform, just as Bush got through major tax breaks for the rich under the budget reconciliation act, argues we can do the same for climate here.

"We don't need 60 votes to save the planet. We can do it with 51 votes through Budget Reconciliation Act." - Sanders

On nuclear waste, Sanders says we don't know how to get rid of what's on the planet now. We can't risk making more of it. In terms of cost, says it costs more to create new nuclear power plant today than to go to solar/wind.

How can you go carbon neutral without nuclear? Sanders says you can and the science is available. The people who experienced Fukushima might be the ones US should consider listening to today, he argues.

Sanders says as POTUS, he would encourage global leadership to collaborate and instead of spending $1T on weapons of destruction, maybe we pool resources and work together toward our common enemy: climate change.

Would Sanders reinstate energy saving lightbulbs currently being overturned by Trump admin? Sanders says if you can get a lightbulb that is more efficient, "of course" he would encourage and incentivize that.
It's a no-brainer in the small changes department.

Sanders on overpopulation. Would he curb pop growth as part of his climate plan? Yes, this starts by empowering women to make their own choices about their own bodies and get abortions or obtain birth control. Especially in poor countries.

The U.S. will have to ween its of fossil fuels completely. This can mean the loss of jobs, how will Sanders help works transition to other fields of work in a green economy?
Sanders says he considers himself the most pro-worker member of Congress, 100% rating with AFL-CIO

Coal miners in this country, those who work on oil rigs, they are not his enemy. "What is my enemy is climate change."

His plan has built in tens of billions for a "just transition" that says if some workers, through no fault of their own, loses job due to US moving away from fossil fuel, income guaranteed for 5 years.
"They should't be punished because we're trying to save the planet."

Would Sanders change FEMA rules to be more equitable? FEMA now only pays for infrastructure to be replaced where it was before it was destroyed. "That's pretty stupid. If destroyed there once, doesn't make much sense to build it there again."

Sanders acknowledges, we "won't turn this around tomorrow" but you do your best to incentivize at the federal level to have them rebuild elsewhere. If people insist on it, under a Sanders admin, they won't get federal assistance to do it.

If I start from the moral position that I have no choice to save this planet for future generations, that will mean change. When a POTUS has got to do is make clear what the dangers are. What is the alternative? - Sanders

"No one 30 years from now wants to look your kid or grandkid in the eye and hear them say, grandpa, you knew in 2019, what the scientists were saying and you didn't do anything. Look at what you created. Look at what you gave me. I don't want anyone here to have to face this."

What is the greatest personal sacrifice Americans can make to stop climate change?
Sanders: We're going to have to change the nature of many of the things we're doing now. The products we are using. We have to work with people and understand we've got to make changes now.

i.e. in agriculture, we're saying we're going to end factory farming because it is a danger to the environment and to climate change.
It's the baseline commitment to act that Sanders puts high on the list of his administration's priorities.

We will move to Elizabeth Warren next as the climate town hall continues.
We are now entering the last quarter of tonight's forum.

Warren starts on the carbon tax to reduce emissions. "If you're going to be spewing carbon into the air and messing up the air for the rest of us, it's your responsibility to clean it up."

How do we change and how do we think about change? We've talked about carbon tax for a very long time, had some regional experiments with some positive effects, but her plan is more aggressive, Warren says.

"Think about the 3 areas where we have the most carbon pollution in U.S.: in buildings, homes, cars and trucks and generation of electricity where we still use carbon-based fuel to make it happen."
By 2028, no new building that has any carbon footprint, by 2030, same for cars.

By 2035, same for electric generation. This would cut 70 percent of carbon emissions, she argues.

No more new nuclear plants. Start weening off, get it done by 2035.
CNN notes Germany's model and how they are poised to fall short. Can ambition to use solar in place of nuclear realistic?

Warren says this isn't just about nuclear, it's about storage. You can use solar power at high noon and at midnight. The "biggest bet" she' willing to place on this subject is on the science. It will come - think back to before implementation of auto emission standards.

They were choking cities. When the industry said they couldn't possibly do it. Congress basically said tough - do it anyway. They invented the catalytic converter as a result, Warren says. "We can make change."

If we don't address this climate crisis meaningfully, we're cheating children of their future, Warren says.

Would Warren support legislation that would protect the public health of Appalachia - like legislation that halts mountain top removal until enviro assessment impacts are conducted.

"We have a Washington that works great for the wealthy and well-connected and giant oil companies that want to drill everywhere. It's just not working for the rest of us who see climate change bearing down upon us." - @ewarren
It is corruption pure and simple, she adds.

@ewarren Warren says environmental issues are about racial justice, worker justice. Those issues can be addressed in part, through investment in green manufacturing. Building good unions, building jobs. We need smart workers to rebuild our infrastructure, harden it, she says.

"Among my many plans, one of them is green manufacturing. Coming up, there is an estimated $17T market for green energy around the world. Green generation, carbon extraction, clean water, desalinization." - Warren

This is an America that isn't working for profits of fossil fuel industry but an America working for everybody. - Warren

Today on Trump's plan to rollback light bulb regs. CNN asks: should govt tell you what kind of light bulb you should have?
Warren: Come on, give me a break.

"There are a lot of ways we try to change energy consumption and pollution. God bless all of those ways, on light bulbs, straws, dang, on cheeseburgers."

Warren: "I get people are trying to find THE part they can work on and I'm in favor of that and I will support but this is exactly what the fossil fuel industry wants us to talk about. They want to stir up controversy around light bulbs,, straws and cheeseburgers...

"when 70% of carbon we throw into atmosphere comes from 3 industries. We can set our targets and say by 2028, 2030 and 2035, 'no more.'"

Warren on how to support communities facing displacement and cultural erasure.
Warren says these groups for generations have been the ones exposed to toxic dumps. Their children get asthma first, their seniors die earlier.

To change this, it isn't about reducing pollution or carbon alone, its about trying to help those who have already been injured from all that has happened.

She acknowledges her plan isn't fully fleshed out how funds go down to the community level. But she says under her administration, she would ensure that tribal funds, communities that are exploited, their funds wont "just doesn't go to governors."

"It's about respecting tribes ability to take care of their own land, to be good stewards of the land." As a commitment, as POTUS, she will not approve any plans for use of federal lands that are near tribal lands that may also effect what happens on tribal or sacred lands.

There will always be "prior informed consent" of neighboring tribes, Warren says.

Warren contends: How is it that we can have companies attain bigger and bigger profits while your homes flood or wash away? Washington is corrupt. It is taking $ from fossil fuel industry and big polluters and doing exactly what they want, "which is nothing."

There will be bills called climate bills, with "fabulous names" but read the fine print, Warren says, because under the corrupt system. they will be *brought to you by Exxon.

Oyster farmer who has been hit by two hurricanes and saw his stock destroyed: What are Warren's plans for a "#BlueNewDeal" for those who work on the oceans?

Warren acknowledges the way fish have moved from southern waters to points further north due to changing climate and water temps/nutrients They're moving now, but she asks where are they going next? That's a concern. If you want to call it #BlueNewDeal, count me in, Warren says.

Warren pledges $3T over 10 years whereas Sanders promises $16T, does that mean he is more dedicated to this than her? Warren says no.
But why?
"I've got plans on how we're going to cut carbon emissions by 70 percent by 2035 but...

"We have to use all the tools on the toolbox. It takes money to make this investment, but we have to be willing to use regulatory tools."
Her trade policies includes climate elements - we need a climate adjustment fee on imports to US.

"Something that takes a lot of carbon to produce, we can't export our pollution and say as long as they produce it somewhere else, it's OK with us. No, we want to create the right kind of competition for our industry and think globally."

"You want to import, we want to know how much carbon was used to produce that." - Warren

As she closes, she emphasizes the need to look into as many methods, proposals, alternatives as possible to solve the climate crisis.

We move onto @PeteButtigieg next.

@PeteButtigieg First question: how can people be confident that Buttigieg will address climate health emergency when South Bend itself did not have a climate action plan addressing these concerns until recently?

Buttigieg says right now the city is building out its capacity to act on reducing greenhouse gases, set up EV charging points, updating building standards.

But how to actually get it done? We've had same conversation for years, he says.
"We have to unify the country and bring people to the table who didn't think they were ever part of the process."

"This is more challenging than anything we've done since WWII. If we're still at each other's throats between now and 2050, it isn't going to happen." - @PeteButtigieg

@PeteButtigieg He wants to tax carbon, issue rebate collected on revenue on a progressive basis so low income Americans are "made more than whole."

@PeteButtigieg Rural Americans can be a huge part of solution, esp. to achieving net zero cattle farms. It could be done now but its "completely unaffordable," Buttigieg says. It would mean more investment by USDA, more investment in conservation stewardship programs, soil management

@PeteButtigieg Net zero emissions cattle farms could become as vital in fighting rising emissions in much the same way electric cars helped reduce emissions.

@PeteButtigieg How would he use GND to address racial/gender disparities? Buttigieg says communities of color already disadvantaged are being made even worse off; it can't all be prescribed from Washington, he says, but it's time to put dollars behind equity/justice

@PeteButtigieg What's one question he would ask Trump about climate change during a debate? @PeteButtigieg says "you can't get at" Trump with a question, or anyone in the GOP for that matter.

Congress is like a room full of doctors arguing over what to do with a cancer patient, half are arguing about whether surgery or medication is the best approach and the other half is arguing whether cancer exists. - @PeteButtigieg

On Trump: "He's in a completely different reality than the rest of us. We don't have the luxury of debating whether this is an issue." #ClimateChange

How do Buttigieg and his husband @Chas10Buttigieg think about leaving the world a better place for the next generation?
2030 may be "the" deadline but 2020 is the real deadline, he says. If we're not underway by the time our next president is elected, we will have lost so much.

We could lose half the world's oxygen because of acidification of oceans.
He wants to raise children in a healthy world, believes in generational justice but acknowledges it's also about who is alive today and suffering from negative impact of climate change.

Are the candidate's use of private planes inconsistent with his climate change message? He says we need to do more to provide alternatives to air travel, defends his choice in part.

Every minute of every day, humanity buys 1M plastic bottles. The amount of plastic is the same as the entire weight of humanity. It doesn't go away. It gets in everything. We want to make polluters pay, but does that apply to every company that puts harmful packaging out?

Pete says it does; it comes back to us, ruins environments, it is profoundly irresponsible. We must promote biodegradable alternatives to plastics and some of those sources are being grown in America's heartland. We have to "double down" on these resources.

No individual can be expected single-handedly address this problem. This problem is a great opportunity though because it is the perfect problem which demands the use of government - and good governance at that.

He advocates for overturning Citizens United as well.

He will support the global climate strike coming up for students this month.
From guns to climate - the younger generation is going to help us find solutions, shake up the political conversation, he adds.

Question to Buttigieg re: US military reliance on fossil fuels and their contribution to greenhouse emissions. Bases are risk, simultaneously, from sea level rise and increased heat. What is his plan?

He notes, global threats are evolving because of climate (See Syria). We know bases are vulnerable, the "exciting thing" he notes, is how military "can be a huge part of the solution."

OK folks, last candidate is @BetoORourke.

@BetoORourke Correction, it is Beto and then @CoryBooker. Regret the error.

@BetoORourke @CoryBooker Beto like other candidates tonight says on Day 1, re-enter Paris Climate Agreement, reduce methane emissions and get to net zero on public lands by ensuring no new leases for gas and oil on federally protected lands. Start there because it sets a good pace, he says.

Follow up with legally enforceable standards, where no polluter can emit. Net zero emission by 2050, halfway there by 2030 and protect most vulnerable communities.

The best possible path to ensure price for carbon is to have U.S. set the standard here and lead the planet he argues. He doesn't support carbon tax but supports cap and trade - "it signals a legally enforceable limit," Beto says.

What about costs to average American? Solar panels cost thousands. As POTUS what would he do to make going green more affordable?
Beto says its related to cap and trade. Allowances we sell, that revenue would help Americans meet cost of a transitioning economy.

Invsmnt in front line communities, make sure ppl can afford solar panels or EV. He meets people who drive 1-2 hours to work, on min. wage. Often working a second or third job - If we create more affordable housing close to work centers, this too contributes to positive change

Republicans used to be the "protectors of nature," a questioner puts to Beto. He agrees, calls back to Teddy Roosevelt. He "knows in Texas" there are Republicans who genuinely care about climate change + investing in wind/solar that can help us meet obligations to future gens

How would Beto work on leveraging trade on Brazil to protect resources like Amazon Rain Forest?

Stop providing incentives to burn down forests, stop blowing trade opportunities at events like the G7 Summit, Beto says. Note: this is our opportunity, to be an international leader. US climate impact has helped facilitate drought in Guatemala, forcing them to immigrate too.

The topic of immigration and its correlation to the climate crisis is a political hot potato. To my ear, I believe Beto was the first to mention it directly.

Extreme heat, lack of AC and lack of ability to pay for AC by vulnerable populations is a crisis of its own- over 31M households in US are energy insecure. What is Beto's plan?
He wants to invest in these protections by way of his proposed cap and trade system.

El Paso, he claims, is 2nd fastest warming city in U.S. today. This is a huge issue. Not just for Texas, the people of Miami, Charleston, in Louisiana, they are counting on a candidate to do the right thing and not warm a degree and a half more over pre-industrial levels.

We should help people move when they need to move. When they've repaired not once or twice but three times in the last five years, especially, Beto notes.

Storms are becoming more frequent but people cannot continue to pay for this out of own pocket.
"Let's invest in communities and rebuild where we can and move where we must. It's not an inexpensive proposition, but it costs more to rebuild." - Beto

Proposes offering temporary protective status to people of the Bahamas who want to seek shelter in U.S. after major disasters. Same for those experiencing drought in Northern Triangle.

He notes that if we don't deal with climate change impact on immigration now - if you think the current situation is untenable - you haven't seen anything yet. U.S. must be up to this challenge.

Beto would ban offshore drilling altogether. Does not want to put oil wells along coastal areas because it exacts a high toll when there are spills. No new oil and gas leases offshore or on federally protected lands. All existing leases reflect true cost of pollution and carbon.

Last candidate is @CoryBooker.
My colleague @lexandrajones wrote a story on his climate plan recently. Check that out here: courthousenews.com/booker-unveils…

@CoryBooker @lexandrajones With the "power of the pen" Booker says he will undo all of the damage Trump admin caused by executive order. Will put US on path to zero emission electricity by 2030, carbon neutral country by 2045.

@CoryBooker @lexandrajones A question posed by a man who lost his home during Hurricane Sandy - what will Booker do to prepare for these disasters?
Booker recalls the lives lost in Newark during the storm. His state is still recovering, esp. in urban and vulnerable communities.

Having been through it, no powers for days, watching senior citizens who depend on electricity to pump oxygen into their lungs - we have to be prepared.
Climate resiliency is key, making invstmnts to protect flood prone communities, in emergency preparedness

Every time there's a natural disaster, you shouldn't have to work through D.C. politics to get funds. He wants to establish permanent funds to cover this.

There should be no misconceptions about how the climate crisis is creating climate refugees now, Booker says. There must be incentives in building on higher ground.
"Resiliency, resiliency, resiliency. We cannot be a society that puts our servers in the basement." - Booker

How will Booker's plan protect Midwest and domestic agriculture industry?
What are we already doing? Easy to say what we're going to do. But notes he's already proposed legislation to deal with increasing crisis from flooding and climate issues impacting farmers.

Quelling this also comes with addressing issues like gerrymandering. Farmers and their economic must be represented accurately.

Booker is a vegan. But says he doesn't want to preach to anyone about their diets. But healthy diets can also address climate change. Booker: I don't want to take away your hamburgers.

One takeaway from tonight: Americans are really freaked out by the threat to their burgers.

He's expressing concern over how animals are treated in supply chains owned by corporate farming conglomerates. He's concerned about pesticide pollution used on farms that float to poor and often black communities.

Whatever you want to eat, go ahead and eat it, he says. "But when I come for you right now, " he says, know what community he lives in and represents. "You know what we're furious about- we don't have access to fresh and healthy foods here. We live in food deserts."

On nuclear: "People who think we can get to net zero without it, just aren't looking at the facts."
People who experience disasters from nuclear plants, "trust me," he says, "I'm very aware."
He doubled down, visited w/nuclear scientists, argues, next gen nuclear is the future

We used to have most R&D intensive economy but we're not longer there. We're being "out-innovated" by other nations. Gov't must step up with a massive investment on future tech, from battery storage to regs for aviation, to nuclear.

As we begin to wrap up tonight's forum, of note - according to @AP, #Dorian has shifted to a Cat 3 as it approaches the southeastern coast of U.S.

@AP There is not only a political battle going on around climate, but a cultural battle too. "New majorities" must be created to represent civil rights interests of those disproportionately impacted by climate change. Calls on all ppl to join movement to end environmental injustice

@AP This is a crisis, but where it presents danger, it also presents opportunity. This is a chance to deal with restorative justice issues too. "Democracy is a verb, we must all act."- Booker says

Would ban offshore drilling, when they drill, they spill, they destroy the environment. If we are to get electricity zeroed out on carbon emissions, we must phase away from fossil fuels. Net zero by 2045 for whole nation, must get off.

No new leases allowed for offshore, same for fracking. At first on public lands, but it would be expanded later. Transition off coal, natural gas.
Would he ban export of fossil fuels from U.S.?
"Absolutely we must get to that point."

Labor and climate should be at the center of any trade deals right now, Booker says. As for military contribution to climate crisis, Booker says we're ramping up investment in a way that is immoral. We fuel planes that drop bombs even if we aren't doing it directly, necessarily.

As for geoengineering, Booker admits he isn't well-versed in these plans, but he believes each state should implement R&D on battery storage, for example, or other altneratives that will shift the narrative.

And that wraps up my live-tweet of tonight's climate crisis town hall. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope to post a complete story for those who missed me here soon.
Be sure to follow @CourthouseNews, too!

@CourthouseNews STORY: The world has seen wildfire, flood, hurricanes and record-breaking ice-melt since the last U.S. election and on Wednesday, Democratic candidates vying for the White House discussed the climate crisis in its own forum for the first time.
courthousenews.com/democrats-take…