NEW YORK: US presidential hopeful Cory Booker unveiled a US$3 trillion plan to address climate change on Tuesday , vowing to reach a 100 per cent clean energy economy by 2045 by sharply curbing fossil fuels while investing heavily in renewable energy sources.
Booker, 50, has lagged behind the front-runners, including former Vice President Joe Biden and fellow US senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. He is among the 10 candidates – out of a field of 20 – who qualified for the third Democratic debate this month in Houston.The 10 candidates are also set to appear on Wednesday on CNN at back-to-back town halls focused on climate change.
President Donald Trump, a Republican and climate change skeptic, has announced plans to withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris climate agreement that aims to limit global warming and has rolled back environmental regulations he says are bad for the economy. The proposal includes several executive actions that Booker would take as president, including barring new offshore and onshore fossil fuel leases, requiring all new passenger vehicles be zero-emission starting in 2030 and requiring fossil fuel companies to stop all methane leaks.