All but One Presidential Candidate Fails to Address “Climate Restoration Emergency Action” (CREA)

13 September 2019. Washington, D.C.

Following last night’s Democratic candidates presidential debate, only Andrew Yang has received a passing grade on the Build A Movement 2020/CCE 2nd Report Card on “Climate Restoration Emergency Action” - CREA.  While some candidates discussed climate change and have made bold commitments to reduce emissions, only Yang has proposed specific climate restoration solutions, which are critical to winning the fight against climate change. The 1st report card was published on Sept 10.

Worldwide CREA can ensure that humanity can inhabit the Earth for generations to come.  CREA calls for returning atmospheric CO2 to safe pre-industrial levels as fast as possible and restoring Arctic ice to prevent permafrost melt and the resulting disastrous methane emissions.  It is important to note that most 2020 candidates agree that we face a “climate emergency” and have plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions to slow global warming. Nonetheless, without addressing climate restoration solutions we will fail to reverse global warming and restore a healthy climate.  

According to the report card, Andrew Yang is currently the only candidate scoring above a C. Yang has stated publicly and in his climate change plan that the elements of CREA, including carbon-negative building materials, massive carbon dioxide removal, and solar radiation management (SRM), are needed solutions to reverse global warming.  The rest of the presidential field has failed to step up to the plate to tackle CREA.

Climate Restoration is prioritized in recently introduced Congressional Climate Emergency Resolutions (S.Con.Res.22, introduced by Sen. Sanders and co-sponsored by presidential candidates Booker, Harris, Klobuchar and Warren, (H.Con.Res.52) and by Santa Clara County, California (Res. 98193).  The inaugural Global Climate Restoration Forum will be held at UN HQ on September 17.

“Climate restoration won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination.  But it can be achievable. We will continue to track the candidates movement on climate restoration so the public can make informed decisions about how the next president will address the urgency of saving our planet,”  said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Founder, Build a Movement 2020 ad Senior Policy Advisor, Foundation for Climate Restoration.