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Prodding one another across televised segments and, by proxy, through the network’s moderators, Sen. Bernie Sanders pressed more moderate Democrats on a proposal to ban hydraulic fracturing. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for weaning the nation off nuclear power, while former Vice President Joe Biden — while fielding criticism about his fundraising — cast his international experience as instrumental in getting the “rest of the world to come along” on climate.
“I think I can do that better than anybody,” Biden said, “no matter what their plan.”
For months, Democratic candidates had released climate-related plans with common promises: Re-entering the Paris climate agreement, spending trillions of dollars on clean energy initiatives and achieving “net-zero” emissions by 2050 or earlier. Distinctions among their approaches appeared minute compared to the alternative — a president who denies climate science, suggested windmills cause cancer and called climate change a Chinese hoax.
Typical of Democrats’ standard view of the field was former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who, when asked Wednesday if any plan stood out to him as uniquely strong, told reporters, “No, I think they’ve all been really within the framework of what I think would be important to help save our planet.”
But within hours of Reid giving that answer, the Democratic candidates were beginning to seek separation from one another on the issue.
Warren called for spending $3 trillion over 10 years to advance clean-energy goals. Sen. Kamala Harris called for $10 trillion in public and private funding to create a clean energy economy by 2045, while South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg proposed his own goal for net-zero emissions by 2050, including a call for economy-wide price on carbon.
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