Democratic presidential hopeful Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren waves as she arrives for a town hall devoted to LGBTQ issues hosted by CNN and the Human rights Campaign Foundation at The Novo in Los Angeles on October 10, 2019.
ROBYN BECK | AFP | Getty Images
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., released a $10.7 trillion plan Friday that would rebuild the economy using “100% clean energy” and create 10.6 million union jobs.
“To support the millions of skilled and experienced contractors we will need to plan and execute large construction and engineering projects in the new clean economy,” her plan says.
The plan would “support the first responders, healthcare workers, social workers, and other public and private employees who respond to climate-induced disasters,” by committing to “investments in retraining, joint labor management apprenticeships, and creating strong career pipelines to ensure a continuous supply of skilled, available workers.”
Here are the key planks in Warren’s plan. according to her website:
- Investing $10.7 trillion to yield “10.6 million green new jobs” in energy, transportation, construction and water infrastructure
- Expanding job training by investing $20 billion in apprenticeships over the next decade
- Imposing new rules that favor workers’ rights on companies seeking federal contracts
- Pushing for 100% carbon-neutral power by 2030 and 100% emissions-free electricity supply by 2035
To fund the plan, Warren would establish a “Green Bank” that “will open up new markets for greater investment by working alongside existing federal authorities through direct spending, grants, and loans.” Her administration would also issue a green bond backed by the U.S. Treasury Department to give Americans “the opportunity to own a piece of the climate solution.”
Warren’s clean jobs plan draws on several measures from some of her previous policy proposals, including expansions in job training, investments in public transportation infrastructure, and a push for zero-emissions producing cars.
She estimates in her plan that investing in public transportation infrastructure that’s “powered by electricity rather than fossil fuels” will create about 2.6 million jobs.
During the year’s final Democratic debate on Thursday, climate change took center stage. The topic has become one of the top issues among voters in this year’s presidential election.
“I want to put the energy, literally, and the money and the resources behind clean energy and by increasing by tenfold what we put into science, what we put into research and development,” Warren said in the debate. “We need to do what we do best, and that is innovate our way out of this problem and be a world leader.”
In national polls, Warren has ranked third among candidates in recent weeks, according to RealClearPolitics, behind Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic front-runner former Vice President Joe Biden.
