Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden
Joe BidenNearly 300 former national security officials sign Biden endorsement letter Trump narrows Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania: poll Florida breaks first-day early voting record with 350K ballots cast MORE’s climate plan lags behind the Green New Deal when it comes to reducing carbon emissions by making homes more energy efficient, according to a new report.
Biden’s plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6.6 million tons by 2025 versus 263 million metric tons for the Green New Deal over the same period, according to analysis from Carbon Switch, which advocates for energy efficiency.
The difference largely boils down to the rate at which each plan calls for weatherizing homes. The Biden plan calls for weatherizing 2 million homes over 4 years. The Green New Deal’s call for a 10-year mobilization to upgrade all homes would require weatherizing 8 million homes a year compared to Biden’s 500,000.
The analysis only evaluated the two plans’ approach to reducing the footprint of buildings, which currently account for 35 percent of US emissions. Broadly, Biden’s plan calls for net-zero emissions by 2050, with the electric sector meeting that goal first in 2035.
“There’s no doubt that the difference between a Biden administration and Trump administration would be stark,” the group wrote in its analysis, while adding later its analysis of the Biden plan shows “these reductions would fall far short of those needed to meet the Paris Agreement.”
The report comes as Biden has tried to distinguish his climate plan from the 14-page resolution introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-CortezOVERNIGHT ENERGY: EPA may violate courts with new rule extending life of unlined coal ash ponds | Trump reverses course, approving assistance for California wildfires | Climate change, national security among topics for final Trump-Biden debate Biden distances himself from Green New Deal during town hall Ocasio-Cortez, progressives call on Senate not to confirm lobbyists or executives to future administration posts MORE (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey
Edward (Ed) John MarkeySenate Republicans offer constitutional amendment to block Supreme Court packing Time to honor the ‘ghosts’ of WWII OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Federal officials press concerns about proposed mine near Georgia swamp, documents show | Trump falsely claims Green New Deal calls for ‘tiny little windows’ | Interior appeals migratory bird ruling MORE (D-Mass.).
“My deal is the crucial framework, not the New Green Deal,” Biden said at a town hall last week.
Carbon Switch agreed with that assessment.
“In the final weeks of the campaign, Trump will likely continue to frame Biden’s climate plan as ‘radical.’ But there’s no doubt: Biden’s climate plan is no Green New Deal.”
