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Many environmentalists are wondering, “Who is the best 2020 Presidential candidate for the planet?” Well, if you compare just three high-level common goals across seven different campaign websites, the answer might surprise you. We compared seven candidates across the following three goals: 1) reaching 100% renewable energy electricity generation, 2) achieving (or rolling out) a zero emission car standard, and 3) a carbon neutral economy.

Keep in mind, not every campaign used precisely the same language, so there is obviously some missing nuance here. Given this very simple tabulated analysis of the current goals set by campaigns, it seems like Senator Cory Booker might have the most ambitious goals. The big caveat to this is that we couldn’t find a Carbon Neutral Economy goal on Senator Elizabeth Warren’s website, and Senator Kamala Harris’s goals might not be as watered down as we perceived. Also, we understand that candidates might change their goals over the course of the campaign.

Below is the tabulation of the goals as the websites are written on this day November 27th, 2019.

Seven Democratic Candidates: Headline Climate Goal Comparison

It should also be noted that while Senator Warren’s goal for 100% renewable energy electricity generation is currently set at 2035, she would “require utilities to achieve 100% carbon-neutral power by 2030.” Also, Senator Harris’s 2030 goal for electricity generation is “100 percent carbon-neutral electricity.” So, those might be considered equally ambitious when compared to Senator Booker’s renewable energy goals, however, Senator Booker’s website currently says “100% carbon-free electricity by 2030.” Carbon-free is inherently more ambitious than carbon neutral.

2050 seems to be the generic Carbon Neutral Economy goal, which can probably be attributed to the nice sound of a mid-century goal or just the fact that the 2050 time-horizon has been thrown around in environmental and population boom conversations for many years now.

We probably have Rosario Dawson to thank for encouraging Senator Cory Booker to set the most ambitious climate goals. In any case, the candidates also outlined HOW they will achieve these goals, and we will be comparing these plans in the coming weeks and months.

Stay tuned.