Joe Biden released a $5 trillion “clean energy revolution” plan Tuesday to combat climate change, which he said is the greatest challenge facing the United States and world.

Biden responded aggressively to critics and rival Democratic candidates who predicted he’d be too moderate on climate change, given his pro-union background, with a proposal that he says goes “well beyond” the agenda he undertook in the Obama administration.

He vowed to re-enter the Paris Climate Accord that the Obama administration negotiated, and President Trump rejected, on the first day of his presidency, and to commit the U.S. to an even more ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction goal.

Climate change has emerged as a top issue for Democratic primary voters in the 2020 campaign, with the progressive Green New Deal pushing candidates to try to one-up each other with proposals to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.

Biden nods to the Green New Deal with his plan, calling it a “crucial framework” that demonstrates the “environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.”

“We must take drastic action now to address the climate disaster facing the nation and our world,” Biden said. “Science tells us that how we act or fail to act in the next 12 years will determine the very livability of our planet."

Biden would spend $1.7 trillion in federal money over 10 years on clean energy, leveraging additional private sector and state and local investments to total to more than $5 trillion in funding.

His underlying goal is to have the U.S. obtain 100% of its energy from clean sources, and achieve net-zero emissions, no later than 2050 — a target timeline consistent with goals targeted by the United Nations as necessary to avoid the worst harms of climate change.

Biden wants Congress to pass legislation within his first year to enforce a 100% clean energy mandate.

He would not ban fossil fuels or nuclear power, allowing for zero-emission sources such as advanced nuclear reactors and carbon capture on coal and natural gas plants to contribute to his 100% clean energy goal, along with wind and solar.

But Biden joined most of his fellow Democratic field in pledging to not accept campaign contributions from oil, gas, and coal corporations or executives (although he left room for fossil fuel workers to donate to him).

Biden said he would pay for his plan by “reversing the excesses” of Trump’s tax cuts for corporations, closing loopholes in the tax code, and ending subsidies for fossil fuels.

In a difference from his competitors, Biden specifically targets China, viewing it as a major competitor in the clean energy economy.

He proposes imposing carbon adjustment fees or quotas on carbon-intensive goods from countries that are failing to meet their climate and environmental obligations under the Paris deal, aiming to stop China from "subsidizing coal exports and outsourcing carbon pollution."

Biden, despite his critics, had a track record in the Obama administration of enacting policies that have helped reduce emissions and lower the cost of clean energy.

In one of his first tasks, Biden helped implement Obama’s economic stimulus package, known as the Recovery Act of 2009, dedicating $90 billion to clean energy programs. He later helped lead negotiations of the Paris agreement.

He also authored one of the first climate change bills in 1987 that required the government to plan for global warming.

Here are some more details about his new plan:



Biden would make the "largest-ever investment" in clean energy research and innovation, establishing an ARPA-C program — a cross-agency program focused on spurring advanced technologies to combat climate change. He'd focus this project on developing grid-scale battery storage to allow wind and solar to be used when the wind isn't blowing and sun is not shining, lower cost small modular nuclear reactors, carbon capture technologies, and more.

He would develop "regional climate resilience plans" as part of an infrastructure investment effort to enhance roads, bridges, buildings, the electric grid, and water infrastructure. He would set a target of reducing carbon emissions from existing U.S. buildings 50% by 2035, creating incentives for retrofits.

Biden would work with states and cities to support the deployment of more than 500,000 new public charging stations by the end of 2030 to support electric vehicles. In addition, Biden would restore the electric vehicle tax credit, which is expiring for some leading automakers.

In a shot at the Trump administration, Biden would pursue a global ban on offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean and reestablish climate change as a priority for the Arctic Council. The Trump administration has refused to acknowledge climate change as a threat to the Arctic. Biden would also ban new oil and gas permits on public lands.