Where the 2020 presidential hopefuls stand on climate

If CNN’s prime time programming is any guide, 2020 could be climate change’s year. Not in a doom-and-gloom, massive storm systems, and out-of-control wildfires way — though, sigh, that could happen too — but as a prominent issue in electoral politics. In early September, the cable news network devoted seven full hours to a series of town halls in which CNN anchors, climate scientists, and concerned citizens grilled 10 of the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for president on their plans for tackling the climate crisis.
It’s a reflection of changing priorities. A poll published in early -July from the Washington Post and ABC News found that climate change came in second behind health care when voters who lean Democrat were asked what the most important issue would be in the 2020 general election. The same poll found that voters of all persuasions disapproved of how President Donald Trump has handled climate change more than any other issue — immigration, foreign policy, even “issues of special concern to women.”
Discussions of climate policy have evolved in this election cycle. Democratic primary candidates initially would drop buzzwords like “Green New Deal” or “Paris accord” to give the sense that they were climate- conscious. But a vocal and seemingly omnipresent activist community has forced serious primary contenders to bone up on issues related to warming, from their stances on whether the country should continue fracking for natural gas, whether nuclear energy makes sense as part of a future energy mix, and whether there should be a price on carbon. With so many candidates and so many concerns, it’s easy to lose track of who stands for what. Which candidate has a plan to address the climate crisis that tracks most closely to what a voter (you, dear reader) might want?
That’s where we at Grist come in. We’ve assembled this handy, scannable candidate sorter so you can peruse the many many many candidates vying for your vote — and find your political soulmate.
Happy sorting!
To see more of Grist’s 2020 election coverage, click here.
Michael Bennet
Senator, Colorado

Pro
- Carbon capture
- Fracking
- Nuclear
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Green New Deal
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon tax
- Fossil fuel exports
- Geoengineering

Bennet is a Democratic senator from Colorado who sees his record of working across the aisle as a key to winning in 2020. He won a razor-thin Senate election in 2010, despite Republicans picking up seats elsewhere in the purple state. He’s most well known for joining the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” to push for immigration reform in the Senate.
Bennet’s environmental record is mixed. He’s supported major climate bills, and the League of Conservation Voters has been his top campaign contributor throughout his Senate career. But he’s also cast a handful of votes likely to alarm activists, according to the same League of Conservation Voters, such as one in support of the Keystone XL pipeline in 2013. His proposals to address climate change include cutting energy waste in half by 2040, holding a Climate Summit in the first 100 days of his administration, conserving one-third of federal lands, and awarding competitive grants to encourage green technology innovation.
His climate plan, by the numbers:
- Net-zero emissions by 2050
- Conserve 30 percent of federal lands by 2030
- $1.5 trillion in investments in technology, research, and innovation facilitated by a federal “Climate Bank”
Read Bennett’s full plan here.
Joe Biden
Former vice president

Pro
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Fracking
- Geoengineering
- Nuclear

Cory Booker
Senator, New Jersey

Pro
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
- Nuclear
Anti
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Geoengineering

Steve Bullock
Governor of Montana

Pro
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Fossil fuel exports
Anti
- Green New Deal
- Nuclear
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Geoengineering

Pete Buttigieg
Mayor of South Bend, Indiana

Pro
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Fossil fuel exports
- Geoengineering
- Nuclear

Julián Castro
Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development and mayor of San Antonio, Texas

Pro
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Nuclear
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fracking
- Geoengineering

Bill de Blasio
Mayor of New York City

Pro
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Nuclear
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Fossil fuel exports
- Geoengineering

John Delaney
Former representative, Maryland

Pro
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fracking
- Nuclear
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Green New Deal
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Geoengineering

Tulsi Gabbard
Representative, Hawaii

Pro
- Carbon capture
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Carbon tax
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Nuclear
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Geoengineering

Kamala Harris
Senator, California

Pro
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Fossil fuel exports
- Geoengineering
- Nuclear

Amy Klobuchar
Senator, Minnesota

Pro
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Fracking
- Green New Deal
- Nuclear
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Fossil fuel exports
- Geoengineering

Wayne Messam
Mayor of Miramar, Florida

Pro
- N/A
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Green New Deal
- Nuclear
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Fossil fuel exports
- Geoengineering

Beto O’Rourke
Former representative, Texas

Pro
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Carbon tax
- Fossil fuel subsidies
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fracking
- Nuclear
- Geoengineering

Tim Ryan
Representative, Ohio

Pro
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fracking
- Nuclear
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Green New Deal
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Geoengineering

Bernie Sanders
Senator, Vermont

Pro
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Carbon capture
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Geoengineering
- Nuclear
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon tax

Mark Sanford
Former representative and governor of South Carolina.

Pro
- N/A
Anti
- N/A
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Green New Deal
- Geoengineering
- Nuclear

Joe Sestak
Former representative, Pennsylvania

Pro
- Carbon tax
Anti
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Green New Deal
- Nuclear
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Geoengineering

Tom Steyer
Founder, NextGen Climate

Pro
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fracking
- Geoengineering
- Nuclear

Donald Trump
President of the United States

Pro
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Nuclear
Anti
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Geoengineering

Joe Walsh
Former representative from Illinois

Pro
- N/A
Anti
- N/A
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Geoengineering
- Green New Deal
- Nuclear

Elizabeth Warren
Senator, Massachusetts

Pro
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Nuclear
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Geoengineering

Bill Weld
Former governor of Massachusetts

Pro
- Carbon capture
- Nuclear
Anti
- Carbon tax
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Geoengineering
- Green New Deal

Marianne Williamson
Author and spiritual guru

Pro
- Carbon tax
- Green New Deal
Anti
- Fossil fuel exports
- Fossil fuel subsidies
- Fracking
- Nuclear
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Carbon capture
- Geoengineering

Andrew Yang
Founder, Venture for America

Pro
- Carbon capture
- Carbon tax
- Fossil fuel exports
- Geoengineering
- Green New Deal
- Nuclear
Anti
- Fossil fuel subsidies
¯\_(?)_/¯
- Fracking

CREDITS:
Executive Editor
Nikhil Swaminathan
Senior Editors
Teresa Chin, Matt Craft, Darby Minow Smith
Associate Editor
Kate Yoder
Research
Miyo McGinn
Writers
L.V. Anderson, Eve Andrews, Molly Enking, Nathanael Johnson, Jesse Nichols, Daniel Penner, Rachel Ramirez, Paola Rosa-Aquino, Naveena Sadasivam, Zoya Teirstein
This story was originally published by Grist with the headline My Climate Candidate on Sep 12, 2019.