Kamala Harris Lays Out $10T Climate Change Plan, Vows To Ban Straws

Sep. 5--Sen. Kamala Harris wants to spend more than $10 trillion to make America's economy carbon-neutral, phase out the sale of gasoline-powered cars, block oil drilling on public lands -- and even ban plastic straws.

The California senator laid out her plan to tackle the climate crisis at CNN's presidential town hall on the issue Wednesday, along with nine of her White House rivals.

Many of the candidates' plans are similar, designed to wane the U.S. off carbon emissions within the next three decades. Harris and others have called for rejoining the Paris climate accord, which Trump has moved to exit; investing in renewable energy like solar panels and wind turbines; and banning offshore oil drilling, among other ideas.

The marathon, seven-hour forum took place as Hurricane Dorian, which battered the Bahamas in recent days, loomed off the coast of Florida. The contenders pointed to the real-world impacts Americans are already seeing from climate change -- from storm surges and flooding in the South and Midwest to increasingly deadly wildfires in California and the West -- to stress the need for quick, sweeping action.

In a plan rolled out Wednesday morning, Harris calls for $10 trillion in public and private investments to get the U.S. economy to net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. Her proposal envisions an end to fossil fuel energy production by 2030 and all new cars sold to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

She would also provide funding to California and other western states to fight wildfires, put in place new clean building standards, and push to make all school buses run on electricity by 2030. Some of the funding would come from a new carbon fee.

Harris said at the forum that she would support ending the Senate filibuster to pass a Green New Deal -- a sweeping proposal for big investments in green energy -- if Republican members of Congress didn't take action on fighting climate change. The filibuster, which allows a Senate minority to block legislation, could let GOP senators stymie climate efforts even if Democrats win the majority in the chamber next year.

"If we don't see any traction there, yes, I will take executive action, and yes I will do whatever is necessary," Harris said. "This is about the health and safety of our country and the world."

In addition to sweeping economic reforms, Harris also suggested smaller-scale changes to Americans' daily lives. She said she would support changing dietary guidelines to reduce the consumption of red meat, which has an especially negative environmental impact.

And Harris also came out in favor of a ban on plastic straws, which advocates say contribute to massive amounts of plastic clogging the earth's oceans. California became the first state this year to prohibit most restaurants from giving out plastic straws unless a customer asks for one.

"I'll be honest, it's really difficult to drink out of a paper straw, like if you don't gulp it down immediately it starts to bend," Harris said with a laugh. "We have to perfect that a little bit."

Harris initially declined the invitation to the CNN town hall, citing a scheduling conflict, but agreed to attend after facing criticism from activists.

The marathon of candidates who've spoken so far have mostly laid out similar plans to invest in green energy and reduce emissions. The main questions are about timing and scale -- Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, for example, would invest more than $16 trillion in efforts to fight climate change, the most of any of the Democratic candidates, while other hopefuls plan to reach the same goals with far lower costs or longer timeframes.

"It's a great thing that the candidates are setting big goals," said Jim Sweeney, a Stanford professor who studies energy and climate policy. "Some of what they're proposing is more aspirational than likely to happen -- but if they don't take a shot, they guarantee they won't get a goal."

Multiple candidates, including Harris, gave shout-outs Wednesday to former presidential candidate Jay Inslee, the Washington State governor, who made climate change the centerpiece of his campaign. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts announced Tuesday that she was adopting Inslee's six-part climate proposal as her own.

And the contenders stressed that they wanted to help coal miners and other workers who could lose their jobs in the push to decarbonize the economy. Sanders said he would guarantee fossil fuel workers' wages for up to five years if they get laid off, while giving them other benefits like housing assistance.

"The coal miners in this country, the men and women who work on the oil rigs, they are not my enemy," Sanders said. "My enemy is climate change."

Former Vice President Joe Biden argued that he was the best candidate to lead the world in reducing emissions due to his relationships with global leaders, noting that a large majority of carbon comes from countries other than the U.S. But he faced criticism from questioners in the audience over his plans to hold a fundraiser the day after the forum with the co-founder of a natural gas company. Biden argued that the event didn't violate his pledge not to take money from fossil fuel executives because the businessman, Andrew Goldman, wasn't involved in day-to-day operations of the company.

Climate activists had pushed for a full-on climate debate, with the candidates appearing onstage together and duking it out over their plans. But the Democratic National Committee voted against allowing such an event at a San Francisco meeting last month, forcing CNN to interview the candidates one at a time, about a half hour each.

While the forum wasn't a real debate, it was by far the most in-depth and high-profile discussion of climate change in a presidential campaign process. The climate crisis will get another turn in the presidential campaign spotlight when MSNBC holds its own forum on the issue, which will be open to all candidates.

Some of the candidates pushed back on the idea that Americans would have to make big personal sacrifices to fight the effects of climate change. Asked if everyone in the country would have to drive electric cars under his plan, entrepreneur Andrew Yang replied with a more positive spin.

"It's not something you have to do, it's awesome," Yang said to laughs from the audience. "You feel like you're driving the future -- and I did not say that because Elon Musk just endorsed me."

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