Biden’s climate plan a half measure to stop climate change

WASHINGTON – Today former Vice President and candidate for the Democratic nomination Joe Biden released his climate plan.

Erich Pica, President of Friends of the Earth Action, released the following statement in response:

Friends of the Earth Action welcomes Joe Biden’s commitment to refuse campaign contributions from fossil fuel companies, his pledge to ban new fossil fuel leases on public lands, and acknowledgement of racial justice issues.

But in many ways, Biden’s plan reads like an Obama Administration ‘greatest missed opportunities list.’ To avert climate catastrophe, we must end the extraction and burning of all fossil fuels, period. This plan embraces dangerous nuclear power, environmentally-harmful biofuels, and foolish dreams of carbon capture and sequestration that will lock in our continued dependence on fossil fuels.

Like most candidate climate plans, it barely addresses agriculture and the U.S’s international obligations as the world’s largest historic emitter. To have any real chance of averting climate catastrophe, we must phase out of all fossil fuels, transform our food system, and help developing countries with climate adaptation and mitigation.

Contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, [email protected]