Senate Democrat's bill would allow sanctions for 'egregious' actions causing climate change

Sen. Ed MarkeyEdward (Ed) John MarkeySenate Democrats ask Pompeo to recuse himself from Ukraine matters Senators grill safety regulator over self-driving cars Hillicon Valley: Twitter shares more details on political ad rules | Supreme Court takes up Google-Oracle fight | Pentagon chief defends Microsoft cloud contract MORE (D-Mass.) proposed a bill Monday to allow more sanctions against foreign companies and individuals for “egregious behaviors” that contribute to climate change. 

The bill, titled the “Targeting Environmental and Climate Recklessness Act of 2019,” would call the president to “prioritize action against, and deterrence of, egregious behaviors that undermine efforts” to stop climate change, according to a press release from Markey’s office.

Markey’s proposed bill would permit the president to remove companies’ and individuals’ access to U.S. financial institutions and block visa requests to push other countries to cooperate to combat global warming.

It would serve as an expansion of the Global Magnitsky Act, an anti-corruption bill used to sanction Russia and North Korea, to allow the sanctions to apply to climate change abuses, such as destroying rainforests or developing new coal plants.

“As we fight to enact a Green New Deal here at home, we must use all of the tools of our foreign policy to change the behavior of companies and individuals most responsible for exacerbating the climate crisis,” Markey said in statement. “This legislation would bring us closer to a complete U.S. global strategy that matches the magnitude of the climate crisis.” 

The bill counters the Trump administration’s efforts to move away from climate-focused policy and asks the U.S. to follow through with its vow to provide $3 billion to the United Nations to help poorer countries survive without climate-damaging coal plants and to develop better infrastructure, txhe HuffPost reported. 

The bill is Markey’s most recent effort on climate change. The senator also authored the Green New Deal earlier this year. 

Markey will face Rep. Joe KennedyJoseph (Joe) Patrick KennedyThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: What we learned from first impeachment transcripts Democrats unifying against Joe Kennedy Senate bid Ocasio-Cortez points to California fires: ‘This is what climate change looks like’ MORE III (D-Mass.), who is challenging him in the primary, for his Senate seat.