Democratic presidential primary candidates previously on board with the Green New Deal are unveiling new climate-change plans designed to restructure the energy industry and the economy, requiring trillions in government spending, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The plans by Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg came ahead of a seven-hour CNN town hall on climate change Wednesday.
Democratic primary frontrunners Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had already released their plans, which include trillions in government investment, according to the report.
The pay-fors include fines and fees on polluters, cutting hundreds of billions of dollars in fossil-fuel subsidies, reallocating discretionary spending from existing programs, and asking for Congress to authorize new expenditures, the Journal reported.
While Democrats are almost unilaterally on board, that spending increase, while damaging the economy – will be tough sells on Republicans.
The CNN climate-change town hall will feature each of the 10 Democratic candidates that qualified for the primary debate later this month, speaking individually in 40-minute blocks.
Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., entrepreneur Andrew Yang, and former HUD secretary Julián Castro have already qualified for the debate to be hosted by ABC News on Sept. 12.