Entrepreneur and Democrat presidential hopeful Andrew Yang released a massive plan on his website that lays out his ideas for saving the planet, which Yang says might require “emergency options” including “space mirrors” and moving Americans to higher ground.
Yang entitled the blog, “It’s Worse than You Think — Lower Emissions, Higher Ground” and includes a timeline and the cost of his climate change plan: $4.87 trillion.
“Our planet is a mess,” Yang wrote, and went on to paint a grim picture of a United States plagued by wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and salmon dying in Alaska.
Unlike some Democrat candidates who have said that time is running out to fix the climate change problem, Yang said its too late. He wrote:
The right time to deal with this crisis was decades ago. We’ve waited too long, so we need to act fast and recognize that all options need to be on the table in order to adapt to the changed world we live in while mitigating behaviors that make it worse and reversing the damage we’ve already done.
To that end, Yang doubled down on his call to move people to higher ground as part of his ‘“five-pronged approach” to fighting climate change.
“Move our people to higher ground,” Yang wrote. “Natural disasters and other effects of climate change are already causing damage and death. We need to adapt our country to this new reality.”
Aside from the standard Democrat talking points — get rid of fossil fuels and replace them with “renewable energy,” fining big corporations for polluting, stopping all oil and gas leases on public land, and a carbon tax — Yang also includes some unique ideas under the “Emergency Options” section that is meant to offer ways to “prepare for the worst.”
“Space mirrors would involve launching giant foldable mirrors into space that would deploy and reflect much of the sun’s light,” Yang wrote. “This method would be extremely expensive, which is why it should be investigated as a last resort. However, since we would be able to “undo” the mirror after deployment if needed, it’s less permanent.”
“Stratosphere aerosol scattering, on the other, would be a drastic response to the climate crisis,” Yang wrote.
Some other highlights of Yang’s plan:
- Aside from space mirrors, other geoengineering proposals include “ocean seeding to increase the population of carbon-absorbing plankton and stratospheric aerosol scattering to reflect sunlight away.”
- “$90 billion to establish and fund the Climate Adaptation Institution over 20 years”
- “Fully green economy by 2049″
- “Refuse to hire anyone who formerly worked as a lobbyist for oil, gas, or coal company, or served in an executive capacity at one of those companies”
- “Create a $200 billion grant program to states to convert their public transportation systems (trains, buses, school buses) to electric vehicles”
- “Government investment of $300 billion over 15 years into research for alternative aircraft fuel”
- “Use the EXIM Bank, or create a new, Green EXIM Bank, to aggressively export US green technology throughout the rest of the world”
- “Direct the Pentagon to proactively identify areas that are becoming destabilized by climate change and offer military assistance in stabilizing and rebuilding the region, improving its ability to withstand climate change”
- “Increase foreign aid to developing nations to help cover the cost of any project that is environmentally friendly”
Yang also praised Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) for introducing the Green New Deal, which – while he does not endorse the plan – he said that it already accomplished its goal of starting the conversation on climate change as an existential threat.
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