Where 2020 Democrats stand on
Climate change

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Would you support setting a price on carbon, such as with a carbon tax or cap-and-trade?

Yes

Yes, supports

Joe Biden

Former vice president

Biden supports a price on carbon, a campaign spokesman told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Biden
Biden

Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)

Former New York mayor

Bloomberg is no longer running for president. “Yes. Companies should not be allowed to dump unlimited carbon pollution into the atmosphere at no cost,” Bloomberg told The Post. “Putting a price on carbon should be one among many actions the federal government takes to combat climate change.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Mike Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Cory Booker (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New Jersey

Booker is no longer running for president. “[F]ossil fuel producers would immediately begin to pay a carbon fee on fossil fuel sources at the coal mine, natural gas wellhead and oil refinery,” Booker's climate plan said. “The carbon fee would rapidly increase and be complemented by a 100% clean energy standard for electricity generation by 2030, ensuring all electricity is emissions-free and that all communities are free of the health costs and environmental pollution from this sector. Industrial sources of emissions would become subject to the fee in 2030, in order to allow time for technology development. By paying the true societal cost of production — not just for capital and labor but also the impact on communities and our environment — people and businesses will more quickly shift to zero emission sources of energy and less carbon-intensive goods and services. Under [Booker's] plan, substantial revenue raised through the carbon fee will be returned directly to households in the form of a monthly dividend check.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Cory Booker
Booker

Steve Bullock (Dropped out)

Governor, Montana

Bullock is no longer running for president. “Yes. We need to address climate change with transformative solutions — from rejoining the Paris Agreement and restoring global climate leadership, to significantly expanding renewable energy, improving energy and fuel efficiency, investing in carbon capture, increasing royalties on oil and gas drilling, and a carbon tax shouldn’t be off the table if it contains safeguards to ensure lower-income communities are not disproportionately affected,” Bullock told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Steve Bullock
Bullock

Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)

Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.

Buttigieg is no longer running for president. Buttigieg supports a price on carbon, he told The Post. “And I know you’re not supposed to use the T word when you’re in politics, but we might as well call this what it is. There is a harm being done, and in the same way that we have taxed cigarettes, we're going to have to tax carbon,” Buttigieg told a CNN climate town hall. “Now, the difference with my plan is that I propose that we rebate all of the revenue we collect right back out to the American people on a progressive basis, so that low- and middle-income Americans are made more than whole. ”

Candidate positions highlighted
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg

Julian Castro (Dropped out)

Former mayor, San Antonio

Castro is no longer running for president. Castro supports setting a price on carbon, he told The Post. “By 2030, we will replace all electricity generated by coal to zero-emission sources. I support a new 'carbon pollution fee' on up-stream, large-scale polluters for greenhouse gas emissions and investing that revenue in renewable energy, environmental justice, and climate resilience,” Castro's climate plan said.

Candidate positions highlighted
Julian Castro
Castro

Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)

Mayor, New York City

de Blasio is no longer running for president. De Blasio supports setting a price on carbon, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Bill de Blasio
de Blasio

John Delaney (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Maryland

Delaney is no longer running for president. “The largest component of Delaney’s climate plan that will have the biggest impact is his Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal,” his campaign website said. “While in Congress, Delaney introduced the first bipartisan Carbon Fee and Dividend bill in over 10 years. The proposal starts the fee at $15 per metric ton of CO2 equivalent and increases the cost by $10 each year. Implementing a carbon fee, where the revenue is returned to the American people, is the best method for providing the market incentives to reduce our emissions.”

Candidate positions highlighted
John Delaney
Delaney

Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New York

Gillibrand is no longer running for president. “We need to put a price on carbon,” Gillibrand's campaign website said. “If we’re going to get serious about stopping the effects of climate change, we have to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels—and the worst carbon polluters should pay to fix the damage they have caused. Kirsten would use incentives to steer companies away from fossil fuels and toward clean and renewable energy sources. She would also make climate polluters pay to address the impacts of climate change by establishing a new climate mitigation trust fund paid for by an excise tax on fossil fuel production.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Kirsten Gillibrand
Gillibrand

Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, California

Harris is no longer running for president. “A climate pollution fee can play an important role as one of several interrelated policies to reduce emissions and hold polluters accountable,” Harris's climate plan said. “As Governor Inslee noted, a price on pollution is not a silver bullet, but by placing a progressively increasing fee as far upstream as possible, we can drive down pollution while raising government revenues that can be used to address the harms of greenhouse gas emissions. However, history shows us that reliance on market mechanisms alone can often leave communities behind. That’s why [Harris] will involve frontline communities in the fee development process, and would ensure that the fee revenues are invested back into those communities to improve environmental conditions and local economic development.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Kamala Harris
Harris

John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)

Former governor, Colorado

Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. “We must unleash market forces to help solve the emissions challenge,” his climate plan said.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper

Jay Inslee (Dropped out)

Governor, Washington state

Inslee is no longer running for president. Inslee is calling for placing a “Climate Pollution Fee” on greenhouse gas emissions. “While putting a price on the cost of climate pollution does not represent a single silver bullet,” Inslee’s Freedom from Fossil Fuels plan states, “it nonetheless remains an effective tool for both ensuring that polluters pay and for generating new revenue to address the harms caused by those emissions.” A ballot initiative to impose fees on carbon emissions in Washington state that Inslee championed fell short in November.

Candidate positions highlighted
Jay Inslee
Inslee

Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Minnesota

Klobuchar is no longer running for president. Asked about paying for her plan at a CNN climate town hall, Klobuchar said, “You can do it with simply a carbon tax, or you can do it with a combination with the renewable electricity standard. I’d want to see who we have in Congress and how far we can move. So that alone will bring in trillions of dollars. And some of that can be used, of course to help communities that are going to be affected by this, and by the transition and make sure people have jobs coming out of this.” She supports a federal carbon-pricing mechanism, her campaign told The Post. Her climate plan called for, “adopting a carbon pricing program that does not have a regressive impact on Americans.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar

Seth Moulton (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Massachusetts

Moulton is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support setting a price on carbon,” Moulton told The Post. “Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are 33% higher than any time in the last 400,000 years. Carbon emissions have a cost to society and if that cost is not included we all will have to pick up the tab. For a specific pricing mechanism, I prefer a carbon tax, one that starts low but ramps up considerably over time. As a flat tax with regressive impact, the bulk of the revenue generated should be directed back at the majority of Americans on a means-tested basis. A carbon tax of this form would result in progressive policy on climate while making some progress on income inequality.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Seth Moulton
Moulton

Joe Sestak (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania

Sestak is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support a carbon fee and dividend approach, with proceeds primarily going back to citizens, but with some going to research and development of clean energy and other climate stabilizing technologies — particularly removing CO2 from the atmosphere,” Sestak told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Sestak
Sestak

Tom Steyer (Dropped out)

Billionaire activist

Steyer is no longer running for president. “I support putting a price on carbon. A price, however, will not in itself offer a complete solution to the climate crisis. Any carbon price must be part of a comprehensive plan to decarbonize as quickly and equitably as possible,” Steyer told The Post. He funded an effort to pass cap and trade in Oregon in 2018.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tom Steyer
Steyer

Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)

Author

Williamson is no longer running for president. “I feel a federal carbon tax is important and is only one tool that we will need to address this imminent threat to our communities, country and environment,” Williamson told the New York Times.

Candidate positions highlighted
Marianne Williamson
Williamson

Andrew Yang (Dropped out)

Tech entrepreneur

Yang is no longer running for president. “We need to have a carbon tax because we need to have polluters internalize the cost of their pollution,” Yang told a CNN climate town hall. “And so you start at $40 a ton and then you ramp up to $100 a ton to give them time to adjust. But these companies only operate on the bottom line. You can’t say do the right thing and then have all the executives get paid for making tons of money at the expense of the earth.” On Yang’s campaign site he pledged to “institute a tax on emissions that will fund health care initiatives and research for respiratory diseases that are a direct result of these emissions.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Andrew Yang
Yang

Open to it

Open to it

Michael Bennet (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Colorado

Bennet is no longer running for president. “There are a variety of tools we can use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I think we should include the country in making that decision, rather than making it from Washington,” Bennet told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Michael Bennet
Bennet

Deval Patrick (Dropped out)

Former governor, Massachusetts

Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrick has said that a cap-and-trade system is not enough of a strategy. His campaign said he was open to a carbon pricing mechanism.

Candidate positions highlighted
Deval Patrick
Patrick

Tim Ryan (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Ohio

Ryan is no longer running for president. “I would be willing to consider a cap-and-trade system for our worst polluters as we transition into an era of cleaner, renewable power generation for the entire country,” Ryan told The Post. “The plan would have to mimic the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) which has been successful in paying off economic dividends to participating states, as well as prioritize revenues directly helping the consumers and workers affected by our transition to clean energy.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tim Ryan
Ryan

Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, California

Swalwell is no longer running for president. “I am willing to explore and pursue both options — I’m in favor of anything that leads to rapid and profound reduction of carbon pollution,” Swalwell told The Post. “Cap-and-trade has been a major factor in putting California at the forefront of fighting climate change; we know strong economic incentives can be effective. It is also important that the revenues from such a mechanism are used to fight climate change such as investing in renewables and green infrastructure.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell

Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Warren is no longer running for president. Warren is open to setting a price on carbon, her campaign told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Elizabeth Warren
Warren

No

No, opposes

Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Hawaii

Gabbard is no longer running for president. “Ultimately I don't think that the carbon tax is the right way to get us there. Instead of passing the costs on to those who can least afford it, I will end corporate welfare to fossil fuel and nuclear power companies,” Gabbard told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard

Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Vermont

Sanders is no longer running for president. A Sanders campaign spokesperson told The Post in Nov. 2019 that the senator is now opposed to a carbon tax. Previously, a spokesperson told The Post in May 2019 that Sanders was open to a carbon tax, but warned at the time that “our window for action is closing” and “a price on carbon must be part of a larger strategy and it must be formulated in a way that actually transitions our economy away from fossil fuels and protects low-income families and communities of color.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Bernie Sanders
Sanders
Jump to more questions

Climate change has emerged as a key issue in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Candidates frequently discuss it on the campaign trail and often face questions from the audience on how they will address the issue.

Some Democrats have soured on pricing carbon emissions, which many economists view as a cost-effective way for countries to reduce emissions, although it would increase energy prices for consumers, with poorer households being disproportionately affected. The field also splinters on what to do about fracking and nuclear power, though most support rejoining the Paris climate agreement and an end to leasing for fossil fuel extraction on federal lands.

The Democratic takeover of the House refocused the climate conversation in Washington. In 2019, freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) along with Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a nonbinding resolution calling for a Green New Deal, which aims to achieve a “fair and just transition” to net-zero emissions and ties climate action to other progressive goals such as universal health care and a jobs guarantee. The resolution, which became the subject of GOP mockery, has drawn criticism from labor leaders and some Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Where the candidates stand

Here’s where 2020 candidates stand on issues related to climate change, based on candidate statements, voting records and answers to a questionnaire we sent every campaign.

Question 2 of 9

Yes, ban all fracking

Yes, ban all fracking

Cory Booker (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New Jersey

Booker is no longer running for president. Booker supports a ban on fracking, he told The Post. His climate plan calls for "phasing out fracking."

Candidate positions highlighted
Cory Booker
Booker

Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)

Mayor, New York City

de Blasio is no longer running for president. De Blasio supports banning fracking, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Bill de Blasio
de Blasio

Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Hawaii

Gabbard is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support a ban on all hydraulic fracking operations,” Gabbard told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard

Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, California

Harris is no longer running for president. “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,” Harris said at a CNN town hall. “And starting — and starting with what we can do on day one around public lands, right? And then there has to be legislation, but yes — and this is something I’ve taken on in California. I have a history of working on this issue. And to your point, we have to just acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the impact on the health and safety of communities.” Her climate plan does not include a ban, but mentions closing loopholes, “including the Halliburton Loophole, which exempts the fossil fuel industry from disclosing the dangerous chemicals used in fracking under the Safe Drinking Water Act,” and “immediately halting all new fossil fuel leases on federal lands and waters.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Kamala Harris
Harris

Jay Inslee (Dropped out)

Governor, Washington state

Inslee is no longer running for president. “Yes. This year I signed legislation to ban fracking in Washington state, and as president, I would work to end fracking across the country,” Inslee told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Jay Inslee
Inslee

Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Vermont

Sanders is no longer running for president. “Yes. Fracking is a danger to our water supply. It’s a danger to the air we breathe. It has resulted in more earthquakes. It’s highly explosive. And, to top it off, methane from natural gas is contributing to climate change,” a campaign spokesman told The Post. “Safe fracking is, like clean coal, pure fiction. ... No amount of regulation can make it safe. When [Sanders] is in the White House, he is going to ban fracking nationwide and rapidly move to 100 percent clean, sustainable energy.” Sanders told Colorado Public Radio that a ban wouldn't happen "overnight."

Candidate positions highlighted
Bernie Sanders
Sanders

Joe Sestak (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania

Sestak is no longer running for president. “Yes. We need to move quickly to renewable energy. Fracking is a danger to public health and the climate,” Sestak told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Sestak
Sestak

Tom Steyer (Dropped out)

Billionaire activist

Steyer is no longer running for president. “Yes, we should ban fracking, but that can’t happen instantly. We need to push as hard as possible to make the transition as fast as possible,” Steyer told The Post. “ We need to stop the expansion of all forms of fossil fuel infrastructure and production. Under my administration no new fracking or other types fossil fuel development would occur on public lands, and we would implement a responsible plan to phase out existing operations. We need to responsibly phase out the existing operations in line with a transition to 100% clean energy while investing in workers and communities.” “The question in all of this is how fast can you change your electricity generation and how can you do it without disrupting the economy,” Steyer said after a New Hampshire town hall. “When you think about this, when you think about the percentage that's fracked, and what the alternatives are, and what it would mean, I'm not sure you can just say there is no fracking for starters. You can say there's no fracking on federal land. You can say, no new federal leases for fracking. I would do that. I think you can push as hard as possible to make the transition as fast as possible.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tom Steyer
Steyer

Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, California

Swalwell is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support policies that ban fracking,” Swalwell told The Post. “I was an original cosponsor of the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act of 2017, which defined fracking as a federally regulated activity under the Safe Drinking Water Act and would have required the energy industry to disclose the chemical additives used in hydraulic fracturing fluid. ... I have consistently voted to keep protections in place to minimize dangerous methane emissions.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell

Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Warren is no longer running for president. Warren supports a ban on fracking, her campaign told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Elizabeth Warren
Warren

Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)

Author

Williamson is no longer running for president. “Put a ban on all fracking operations (oil and gas) while we study the best way to transition away from and phase out these hazardous and extreme extraction techniques,” Williamson’s campaign site said. “This will require planning for the workers and communities that will be most impacted by a transition away from fossil fuel extraction, processing and use called a ‘just transition.’ ”

Candidate positions highlighted
Marianne Williamson
Williamson

Limit it or regulate it better

Limit it or regulate it better

Joe Biden

Former vice president

Biden opposes new drilling on public lands, but would not call for a nationwide ban on fracking, he said at a CNN climate town hall. “I think we should in fact be looking at what exists now and making a judgment whether or not the those in fact that are there, those wells that are there, whether or not they are dangerous, whether or not they have already done the damage,” he said. His climate change plan calls for “aggressive methane pollution limits for new and existing oil and gas operations.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Biden
Biden

Michael Bennet (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Colorado

Bennet is no longer running for president. “I believe natural gas has a role to play” in transitioning to net-zero emissions “as long as it is developed in a way that protects the health of our communities,” Bennet told The Post. “We need to work as fast as we can to transition to net-zero emissions. That is the first pillar of my climate plan. I believe natural gas has a role to play in that transition. But, that role must be regulated in a responsible way that protects the health of our communities. Which is why I have fought against President Trump’s efforts to it weaken and repeal nearly every standard we had in place for the oil and gas industry since he came into office.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Michael Bennet
Bennet

Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)

Former New York mayor

Bloomberg is no longer running for president. “We need a rapid phase-out of all fossil fuels in order to prevent the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. That means stopping the rush to gas and increasing renewables in our energy mix,” Bloomberg told The Post. “Fracking should only be allowed where there are very strong health and environmental protections. It has to be done with strict guidelines and with an immediate focus on stopping methane leaks.” Bloomberg wrote in his 2017 book, that he did not “want to ban fracking (just do it safely) or stop the Keystone pipeline (the oil is coming here one way or another), and I support nuclear power.” He called New York's fracking ban "misguided" in 2015.

Candidate positions highlighted
Mike Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Steve Bullock (Dropped out)

Governor, Montana

Bullock is no longer running for president. “We must make certain that communities and our drinking water are not harmed by hydraulic fracking — and those same communities must have a voice in the process,” Bullock told The Post. “I believe fracking decisions should be handled by each state, with guidance from federal regulations to include improved disclosure of chemicals, practices for reducing methane emissions, and monitoring of potential water supply impacts.” Bullock opposed federal fracking regulations proposed by the Obama administration in 2013.

Candidate positions highlighted
Steve Bullock
Bullock

Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)

Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.

Buttigieg is no longer running for president. “I favor a ban on new fracking and a rapid end to existing fracking so that we can build a 100 percent clean energy society as soon as possible,” Buttigieg told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg

Julian Castro (Dropped out)

Former mayor, San Antonio

Castro is no longer running for president. “When I was mayor of San Antonio, I did believe that there were opportunities to be had in fracking that was going on in South Texas,” Castro said at a CNN climate town hall. “The thing is that, back then, which was almost a decade ago, we had been saying that natural gas was a bridge fuel. We’re coming to the end of the bridge. And my plan calls for moving toward clean, renewable, zero emission energy in the years to come. That’s what I would focus on. Look, I support local communities and states that want to ban fracking. I have not called for an immediate ban on fracking.” Castro would end leasing of federal lands for fossil fuel extraction and exploration, including for fracking, a campaign spokesperson told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Julian Castro
Castro

John Delaney (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Maryland

Delaney is no longer running for president. “Not ban, but we need strong regulations to make sure it is done safely,” Delaney’s campaign told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Delaney
Delaney

Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New York

Gillibrand is no longer running for president. Gillibrand “has consistently pushed for tough regulations on the fracking industry to ensure the American people have clean water and air. She co-sponsored the FRAC Act, voted against restrictions on the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gases related to fracking, and introduced an amendment to repeal the Safe Drinking Water Act exemption for the fracking industry.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Kirsten Gillibrand
Gillibrand

John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)

Former governor, Colorado

Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. “We will transition to 100 percent renewables and, as we make this transition, utilizing our natural gas resources to offset the need for dirtier forms of fuel, such as coal, will remain important,” Hickenlooper told The Post. He wrote in his 2016 memoir that “fracking is good for the country’s energy supply, our national security, our economy, and our environment.”

Candidate positions highlighted
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper

Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Minnesota

Klobuchar is no longer running for president. Klobuchar would support regulations on fracking, a campaign spokesman told The Post. “I see natural gas as a transitional fuel. It is better than oil, but it’s not nearly as good as wind and solar,” Klobuchar told a CNN climate town hall. “However, you have situations where you have dangerous fracking that shouldn’t be happening. So as president in my first 100 days, I will review every fracking permit there is and decide which ones should be allowed to be continued and which ones are too dangerous.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar

Seth Moulton (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Massachusetts

Moulton is no longer running for president. “Yes, I would support strict environmental protections and regulations, but not a total ban on fracking because doing so would immediately force us back onto dirtier energy sources,” Moulton told The Post. “Regulation should also certainly demand that fracking be done with the strictest environmental and safety requirements, specifically for fracking fluid and its safe transport and disposal. Additionally, methane leaks ... should be very closely monitored, with regulations strictly enforced. Done well, fracking will remain a vital part of our energy sector while we transition away from fossil fuels ...”

Candidate positions highlighted
Seth Moulton
Moulton

Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Texas

O'Rourke is no longer running for president. O'Rourke “would ban new fracking on public lands and get to net zero emissions by 2050,” his campaign told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Beto O'Rourke
O'Rourke

Deval Patrick (Dropped out)

Former governor, Massachusetts

Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrick supports a moratorium on hydraulic fracking “while we develop plans for a carbon-free future,” a campaign spokesperson told The Post. The campaign later said that he did not support a permanent ban.

Candidate positions highlighted
Deval Patrick
Patrick

Tim Ryan (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Ohio

Ryan is no longer running for president. “Every time I drive from Youngstown to the Pittsburgh airport, there's about a five billion-dollar cracker plant," Ryan said after a speech, referring to a facility to “crack” ethane gas. "There are thousands of union workers in western Pennsylvania, in Ohio that are working at that facility. I think it is a very dangerous position to say, not that we've got to use natural gas as a bridge into renewables, but that … if you work at one of those facilities, we're coming to take your job.” He told the post that fracking has become “the ubiquitous method of drilling and has unlocked oil and natural gas from regions all over the country, and in turn provided enormous economic benefits and moved the US towards energy independence. However, we need to significantly ramp up our oversight and regulation of the industry and its practices, especially in regard to its use and disposal of water, as well as methane leaks. ... If the industry cannot rapidly innovate on these issues, I believe the federal government would need to step in and halt fracking operations.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tim Ryan
Ryan

Andrew Yang (Dropped out)

Tech entrepreneur

Yang is no longer running for president. Yang supports a ban on fracking “in any place that public water quality could be put at risk,” a campaign spokeman said. “He would not be in favor of banning fracking completely, but in most cases.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Andrew Yang
Yang

Hover for more information

Tap for info

Background The use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has led to a boom in U.S. oil and gas production in the past decade. Fracking can affect the environment through groundwater contamination, air pollution and noise. Other concerns related to fracking are earthquakes induced by wastewater disposal wells and leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

More in The Trailer: The fracking conversation making swing-state Democrats nervous

Question 3 of 9

Yes, expand nuclear power

Yes, expand nuclear power

Michael Bennet (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Colorado

Bennet is no longer running for president. Bennet supports “advanced nuclear,” he told The Post. He co-sponsored the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act.

Candidate positions highlighted
Michael Bennet
Bennet

Cory Booker (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New Jersey

Booker is no longer running for president. “I support the development of next-generation advanced nuclear reactors,” Booker told The Post. “I believe that our best chance to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees is by investing in a wide range of zero emission, clean energy alternatives.” In his climate plan, Booker pledged $20 billion toward advanced nuclear research, saying “dozens of innovative U.S. companies are investing in developing and commercializing next generation technologies with the potential to be more versatile and resilient than our existing fleet while generating less waste.” He co-sponsored the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act. “People who think that we can get there without nuclear being part of the blend just aren’t looking at the facts,” Booker said at a CNN climate town hall.

Candidate positions highlighted
Cory Booker
Booker

John Delaney (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Maryland

Delaney is no longer running for president. “Yes, if you're serious about fighting climate change you have to be pro-nuclear energy,” Delaney told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Delaney
Delaney

John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)

Former governor, Colorado

Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. Hickenlooper supports constructing new nuclear plants “but there has to be a stronger effort to solve the problem of disposal of high-level radioactive waste,” he told the New York Times.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper

Seth Moulton (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Massachusetts

Moulton is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support building new nuclear power plants,” Moulton told The Post. “Nuclear energy is a carbon-free source of electricity that could provide far more energy to the grid than current levels. We should be investing in the newest and safest generation of nuclear power ever developed. We also need to be investing in clean-energy moonshot ideas. For example, there is a nuclear fusion concept that could deliver essentially endless energy from seawater.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Seth Moulton
Moulton

Tim Ryan (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Ohio

Ryan is no longer running for president. “Yes. I support expanding nuclear energy due to its proven success in reducing carbon in the atmosphere,” Ryan told The Post. “But we can't continue to use old, out of date technology. I support increased investment in research and development to find innovative ways to build safer and more efficient nuclear power plants.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tim Ryan
Ryan

Andrew Yang (Dropped out)

Tech entrepreneur

Yang is no longer running for president. “To me, nuclear energy needs to be on the table in a transition to a more renewable economy, because our society consumes a great deal of energy,” Yang told a CNN climate town hall. “And nuclear, right now, it gets a bad rap, in part because the technologies we’re using are antiquated. ... [W]e are working on these new generation nuclear reactors that use thorium, instead of uranium. And thorium is not natively fissile or radioactive, so the odds of a catastrophe dropped precipitously. It's much, much safer to dispose of. It produces much more energy. So we need to upgrade the thorium-fueled reactors. And, to me, though, trying to get rid of all the nuclear power plants that produce 20 percent of the nation’s energy is not going to help us accomplish our goals.” Yang’s campaign website said he will “work to make it easier for new nuclear plants to open up in appropriate areas to increase the amount of nuclear energy America uses. ... The reality is that nuclear power is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly paths forward to a more sustainable future.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Andrew Yang
Yang

No new plants at this time

No new plants at this time

Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)

Former New York mayor

Bloomberg is no longer running for president. “No new plants at this time,” Bloomberg told The Post. “We urgently need to move off fossil fuels, and nuclear (which currently makes up 20% of our energy mix) will play a role in that transition. My priority as president will be to move us off fossil fuels as quickly as possible. During that time, we will maintain a safe, reliable nuclear presence and not prematurely retire existing nuclear plants. The vast majority of our investment will be in renewables like wind and solar, as well as research and development to ramp up renewable energy and storage.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Mike Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Steve Bullock (Dropped out)

Governor, Montana

Bullock is no longer running for president. “No, I do not support building new nuclear power plants at this time,” Bullock told The Post. “I believe there are a number of proven technologies available to deliver cost-effective, zero-emissions energy solutions that can be used to power every part of our economy without expanding the nuclear fleet.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Steve Bullock
Bullock

Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)

Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.

Buttigieg is no longer running for president. “Building new nuclear plants in the US is not a sustainable long-term answer to fighting climate change, but nuclear will remain a significant source of carbon free power in the short to medium term,” Buttigieg told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg

Julian Castro (Dropped out)

Former mayor, San Antonio

Castro is no longer running for president. Castro does not support building new plants at this time. “Not until we tighten nuclear safety and waste disposal systems and find appropriate technologies to address the challenges with waste disposal,” he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Julian Castro
Castro

Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)

Mayor, New York City

de Blasio is no longer running for president. “No new plants at this time,” de Blasio told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Bill de Blasio
de Blasio

Jay Inslee (Dropped out)

Governor, Washington state

Inslee is no longer running for president. “We must move to a carbon-free power sector, so I would not take any zero-emission sources of power generation off the table,” Inslee told The Post. “However, in order to support new development of nuclear energy, we would first have to solve critical challenges that do not yet have solutions. ... My focus would be first and foremost on investing in the expansion of renewables, efficiency, smart grid and energy storage technologies, as I have called for in my 100% Clean Energy for America Plan.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Jay Inslee
Inslee

Deval Patrick (Dropped out)

Former governor, Massachusetts

Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrick does not support building new nuclear power plants at this time, a campaign spokesperson told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Deval Patrick
Patrick

Joe Sestak (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania

Sestak is no longer running for president. “No new uranium/plutonium plants at this time; however, I am not opposed to it after we complete research into the viability of what would be much safer thorium reactors that produce little hazardous waste and would mitigate nuclear weapons proliferation concerns,” Sestak told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Sestak
Sestak

Tom Steyer (Dropped out)

Billionaire activist

Steyer is no longer running for president. “We should have no new plants at this time,” Steyer told The Post. “Nuclear energy is not cheap, it has suffered from massive cost overruns and have required massive government bailouts. The disposal of waste poses dangers. I would love it if we could have a safe nuclear program that produces no carbon dioxide emissions as well as safe, abundant, cheap energy — but the reality is that it doesn’t exist. Renewable energy like wind and solar are the least costly forms of energy to produce, and the costs are continuing to drop everyday. Renewable energy is the better bet.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tom Steyer
Steyer

Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, California

Swalwell is no longer running for president. “I don't support nuclear energy in its current form, though I do favor more advanced approaches like fusion energy,” Swalwell told The Post. “We need to look forward, not back, and the United States should be the leader in all advanced low-carbon energy. I’m not in favor of phasing out our current plants yet; doing so in Japan and Germany led to higher carbon emissions.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell

No and let’s phase out nuclear power

No and let’s phase out nuclear power

Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Hawaii

Gabbard is no longer running for president. “No, I do not support new nuclear power plants and am in favor of phasing out nuclear power,” Gabbard told The Post. She said she supports ending “subsidies or waivers to the nuclear power industry, which should itself be completely responsible for paying for its own insurance and paying the long term cost for safe storage of nuclear waste over centuries.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard

Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Vermont

Sanders is no longer running for president. “[Sanders] will stop the building of new nuclear power plants and find a real solution to our existing nuclear waste problem,” a campaign spokesman told The Post. “He will also enact a moratorium on nuclear power plant license renewals in the United States. [Sanders] believes that solar, wind, geothermal power and energy efficiency are proven and more cost-effective than nuclear — even without tax incentives — and that the toxic waste byproducts of nuclear plants are not worth the risks of the technology’s benefit. Especially in light of lessons learned from Japan’s Fukushima meltdown, we must ask why the federal government invests billions into federal subsidies for the nuclear industry.” At a CNN climate town hall, Sanders said, “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me to add more dangerous waste to this country and to the world when we don’t know how to get rid of what we have right now.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Bernie Sanders
Sanders

Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Warren is no longer running for president. Warren's campaign confirmed her support for phasing out nuclear power in mid-November. Warren “believes we should not build more nuclear power plants and that we should phase out nuclear power and replace it with renewable energy,” a campaign spokesperson said. “In my administration, we’re not going to build any new nuclear power plants, and we are going to start weaning ourselves off nuclear energy and replacing it with renewable fuels over — we’re going to get it all done by 2035, but I hope we’re getting it done faster than that,” she said at a CNN climate town hall in September.

Candidate positions highlighted
Elizabeth Warren
Warren

Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)

Author

Williamson is no longer running for president. "Transition away from the domestic use of nuclear energy. We do not need nuclear energy to fulfill our energy needs," Williamson's campaign site said.

Candidate positions highlighted
Marianne Williamson
Williamson

Unclear/No response

Unclear/No response

Joe Biden

Former vice president

“To address the climate emergency threatening our communities, economy, and national security, we must look at all low- and zero-carbon technologies,” Biden’s climate change plan said. “That’s why Biden will support a research agenda through ARPA-C to look at issues, ranging from cost to safety to waste disposal systems, that remain an ongoing challenge with nuclear power today.” The campaign did not directly answer this question.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Biden
Biden

Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New York

Gillibrand is no longer running for president. Gillibrand did not provide an answer to this question by publication.

Candidate positions highlighted
Kirsten Gillibrand
Gillibrand

Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, California

Harris is no longer running for president. “So the biggest issue that I believe we face in terms of nuclear energy is the waste and what are we going to do with that,” Harris said at a CNN climate town hall. “We have to make sure that this is not about the federal government coming in and ... making decisions about what each state can do in terms of the nuclear waste issue which is the biggest part of the concern about nuclear energy.” When pressed, Harris did not agree to phasing out nuclear power. Her campaign had not clarified her position by publication.

Candidate positions highlighted
Kamala Harris
Harris

Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Minnesota

Klobuchar is no longer running for president. “So when it comes to those technologies, I think storage is an issue. I know Senator Harris was just talking about this with nuclear. But I would look at all the plants we have right now. It is about 20 percent of our energy and as you know, it doesn’t emit carbon,” Klobuchar said at a CNN climate town hall. “So I would look at those plants and make sure they’re safe and figure out what upgrades we have to make to the plants, but I wouldn't expand nuclear unless we can find safe storage and figure this out. And Yucca Mountain is not the answer.” Her campaign did not provide a direct answer to The Post by publication.

Candidate positions highlighted
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar

Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Texas

O'Rourke is no longer running for president. O’Rourke did not provide an answer to this question by publication.

Candidate positions highlighted
Beto O'Rourke
O'Rourke

Hover for more information

Tap for info

Background Nuclear power remains the nation’s largest carbon-neutral energy source, but it faces an uncertain future. The accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima have caused concern about the safety of the industry and halted new construction in many countries. Of the 97 U.S. commercial nuclear reactors active as of June 2019, 11 are scheduled for retirement by 2025, including Three Mile Island’s remaining reactor, which shut down this year. Only one new reactor, at the Watts Bar plant in Tennessee, began operating in the past 20 years, and two new reactors are under construction at the Vogtle plant in Georgia, with loan guarantees received from both the Obama and Trump administrations. Still unresolved are questions of how and where we can safely store nuclear waste.

An aging fleet of nuclear reactors

59 out of the 97 currently licensed U.S. reactors would face retirement by 2040 without license renewal.

Under construction

Licensed to operate

1980

2019

2060

2000

2040

11 reactors are scheduled

to retire by 2025

Sources: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Energy Information Administration

An aging fleet of nuclear reactors

59 out of the 97 currently licensed U.S. reactors would face retirement by 2040 without license renewal.

Licensed to operate

Under construction

1980

2000

2019

2040

2060

11 reactors are scheduled

to retire before 2025

Sources: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Energy Information Administration

An aging fleet of nuclear reactors

59 out of the 97 currently licensed U.S. reactors would face retirement by 2040 without license renewal.

Licensed to operate

Under construction

1980

2000

2019

2040

2060

11 reactors are scheduled

to retire by 2025

Sources: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Energy Information Administration

Question 4 of 9

Yes

Yes, ban them

Cory Booker (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New Jersey

Booker is no longer running for president. Booker supports banning fossil fuel exports, he told The Post. In his climate plan, Booker pledged to “reinstate the ban on crude oil exports; and expand the ban to cover all fossil fuel exports by 2030.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Cory Booker
Booker

Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Hawaii

Gabbard is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support a federal ban on fossil fuel exports,” Gabbard told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard

Jay Inslee (Dropped out)

Governor, Washington state

Inslee is no longer running for president. “Yes. We must stop burning fossil fuels at home as well as sending that pollution around the globe,” Inslee told The Post. “It was a mistake for Congress to repeal the crude oil export ban, and I do not support the Trump Administration’s continued efforts to ship our fossil fuel pollution abroad — and increase domestic energy prices.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Jay Inslee
Inslee

Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Vermont

Sanders is no longer running for president. “Yes. When [Sanders] is in the White House, he will ban all fossil fuel exports,” a campaign spokesman told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Bernie Sanders
Sanders

Joe Sestak (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania

Sestak is no longer running for president. “Yes, though we should not ban all fossil fuel exports immediately, we must phase them out quickly while working to reduce the impact to American workers,” Sestak told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Sestak
Sestak

Tom Steyer (Dropped out)

Billionaire activist

Steyer is no longer running for president. “Yes we should ban fossil fuel exports, but this can’t happen immediately. We will need to phase it out,” Steyer told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tom Steyer
Steyer

Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Warren is no longer running for president. “I support re-imposing limits on crude oil exports and I opposed lifting the 40-year-old ban on exporting crude oil,” Warren told The Post. “The Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act, of which I am a sponsor, specifically prohibits the use of funds to rebuild the islands’ electrical grids from being used to construct new liquefied natural gas import and export terminals.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Elizabeth Warren
Warren

Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)

Author

Williamson is no longer running for president. Williamson supports a ban on fossil fuel exports, she told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Marianne Williamson
Williamson

No

No, don’t ban them

Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)

Former New York mayor

Bloomberg is no longer running for president. “No. But I will enact and enforce stringent health, safety, and environmental standards to ensure that wherever coal, oil, and gas are mined, drilled, or shipped, it is done safely and with local community consent,” Bloomberg told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Mike Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Steve Bullock (Dropped out)

Governor, Montana

Bullock is no longer running for president. “No. I believe other policy measures can transition existing export industries and reflect the social costs of greenhouse gases from their production and export,” Bullock told The Post. “I believe the fossil fuel export industry must provide the leadership and investment to transition energy systems internationally to lower emissions solutions in the interim.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Steve Bullock
Bullock

John Delaney (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Maryland

Delaney is no longer running for president. Delaney does not support banning fossil fuel exports, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Delaney
Delaney

John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)

Former governor, Colorado

Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. “No,” Hickenlooper told The Post. “I support a dedicated effort to transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. My climate change plan includes a carbon tax, which will create the necessary market incentives to quickly and cost-effectively lower carbon emissions.”

Candidate positions highlighted
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper

Seth Moulton (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Massachusetts

Moulton is no longer running for president. “No, I don’t support a ban, but we need to implement policies to ensure that fossil fuel exports fall over time,” Moulton told The Post. “Banning American exports will hurt American producers that not only employ many Americans but are more heavily regulated than their counterparts overseas. Restricting fossil fuel exports will only make it more difficult to meet our decarbonisation targets. However, it is of pivotal importance that we incorporate the price of carbon emissions into the cost of fossil fuels. We cannot export fossil fuels at a price lower than its ultimate cost to society.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Seth Moulton
Moulton

Tim Ryan (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Ohio

Ryan is no longer running for president. “No. Natural gas exports through LNG not only has enormous economic benefits for American companies and workers, but also play a pivotal geo-political role in our assistance to allies in Central Europe in reducing their dependence on Russia for energy resources,” Ryan told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tim Ryan
Ryan

Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, California

Swalwell is no longer running for president. “Our work should be to reduce global demand for fossil fuels,” Swalwell told The Post. “That's done through innovation and by working with markets and other countries, not by ceding control of those markets to other world powers with terrible human rights records and goals that clash with our own. Moving forward means not banning fossil fuel sales, but making fossil fuels obsolete.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell

Andrew Yang (Dropped out)

Tech entrepreneur

Yang is no longer running for president. Yang would not ban fossil fuel exports, he told The Post. At a CNN climate town hall, he said, “I think we have to stop subsidizing the industry, but I don’t think that includes banning exports. Because if our fossil fuel industry, which is going to be around for some period of time, is competitive and cost competitive enough to export to another country, I wouldn’t stand in the way of that.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Andrew Yang
Yang

Unclear/No response

Unclear/No response

Joe Biden

Former vice president

“I think we should [ban fossil fuel exports], in fact, depending on what it is they’re exporting for what they’re replacing,” Biden said at a CNN climate town hall. “Everything is incremental.” His climate plan said the United States can “export our clean-energy technology across the globe and create high-quality, middle-class jobs here at home.” The campaign did not directly answer this question.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Biden
Biden

Michael Bennet (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Colorado

Bennet is no longer running for president. Bennet did not provide an answer to this question.

Candidate positions highlighted
Michael Bennet
Bennet

Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)

Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.

Buttigieg is no longer running for president. Buttigieg told The Post he supports “a transition to 100% clean energy production in the U.S. and around the world.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg

Julian Castro (Dropped out)

Former mayor, San Antonio

Castro is no longer running for president. Castro did not provide an answer to this question.

Candidate positions highlighted
Julian Castro
Castro

Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)

Mayor, New York City

de Blasio is no longer running for president. De Blasio did not provide an answer to this question.

Candidate positions highlighted
Bill de Blasio
de Blasio

Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New York

Gillibrand is no longer running for president. Gillibrand did not provide an answer to this question.

Candidate positions highlighted
Kirsten Gillibrand
Gillibrand

Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, California

Harris is no longer running for president. “We must begin intentionally and deliberately transitioning away from fossil fuels, shifting from being an exporter of fossil fuels to an exporter of clean energy technology,” Harris's climate plan said. Her campaign had not clarified her position by publication.

Candidate positions highlighted
Kamala Harris
Harris

Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Minnesota

Klobuchar is no longer running for president. Klobuchar did not provide an answer to this question.

Candidate positions highlighted
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar

Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Texas

O'Rourke is no longer running for president. O'Rourke “would take executive action on day one to require any federal permitting decision to fully account for climate costs and community impacts,” a campaign spokesman told The Post. “We must ensure that the resources we consume — even as we work quickly to transition to renewable energy — are governed by the strictest environmental laws, safeguards, and standards.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Beto O'Rourke
O'Rourke

Deval Patrick (Dropped out)

Former governor, Massachusetts

Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrick did not answer this question by publication.

Candidate positions highlighted
Deval Patrick
Patrick

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Background The Energy Information Administration expects the United States to become a net energy exporter by 2020. The United States has long exported more coal than it imports and as of 2017 exported more natural gas. Exports of crude oil have shot up since a four-decade ban was lifted in a 2015 spending bill, passed by a Republican-controlled congress and signed by President Barack Obama.

U.S. energy exports

Petroleum

products

10 quadrillion BTU

Crude oil

ban lifted

5

Crude oil

Natural gas

Coal

0

1990

2000

2010

2018

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Petroleum

products

U.S. energy exports

10 quadrillion BTU

5

Crude oil

Crude oil

ban lifted

Natural gas

Coal

0

1990

2000

2010

2018

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Petroleum

products

U.S. energy exports

10 quadrillion BTU

5

Crude oil

Crude oil

ban lifted

Natural gas

Coal

0

1990

2000

2010

2018

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Question 5 of 9

Yes with a specific target

Yes with a specific target

Joe Biden

Former vice president

Biden “will not only recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change – he will go much further than that,” his climate change plan said. “He will lead an effort to get every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate targets.” His plan calls for “a 100% clean energy economy and [reaching] net-zero emissions no later than 2050.”

May 2: “Today, the House votes on #HR9, the #ClimateActionNow Act, which restores our commitment to the #ParisAgreement. We need to face facts on climate change. It’s already here. It is a major threat to our future and we simply cannot wait to take action.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Biden
Biden

Michael Bennet (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Colorado

Bennet is no longer running for president. “Yes, I would rejoin the Paris climate agreement and other relevant climate negotiations on the first day of the Bennet Administration,” Bennet told The Post. His climate plan said, “In line with direction from global scientists, America must urgently reduce pollution below dangerous levels and achieve 100 percent clean, net-zero emissions as fast as possible, and in no case later than 2050.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Michael Bennet
Bennet

Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)

Former New York mayor

Bloomberg is no longer running for president. “Yes with a specific target. As I state in my international climate priorities plan, my first act as president will be to re-enter the Paris Agreement – and commit to not only meeting our original Paris goals, but also implementing policies that will put us on an accelerated track to go even further,” Bloomberg told The Post. “When I am president we will slash emissions by 50% by 2030 and bring the country to 80% clean power by the end of my second term. The results of the America’s Pledge initiative – which I launched with former Governor Jerry Brown after President Trump decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement – show that bottom-up climate action from cities, states, and businesses have been the engine of climate action over the last three years. But those actions can only take us so far. We need federal engagement and leadership in the White House to address the global climate crisis.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Mike Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Cory Booker (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New Jersey

Booker is no longer running for president. “Yes. We need to substantially increase our commitments to decarbonize much more quickly, and push other countries to match the scale and pace of our actions,” Booker told The Post. His climate change plan calls for achieving “a carbon-neutral economy by 2045.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Cory Booker
Booker

Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)

Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.

Buttigieg is no longer running for president. “Yes, I would work with other nations to increase the targets of the Paris climate agreement,” Buttigieg told The Post. “We aspire to make our society a net-zero emissions one no later than 2050, working aggressively toward immediate targets,” his climate plan said.

Candidate positions highlighted
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg

Julian Castro (Dropped out)

Former mayor, San Antonio

Castro is no longer running for president. “My first executive action, will be to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords and rally the international community to go further, achieving worldwide net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” Castro's climate plan said.

Candidate positions highlighted
Julian Castro
Castro

Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)

Mayor, New York City

de Blasio is no longer running for president. “The U.S. should increase its ambition and target deeper reductions from our Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, setting a benchmark of 40 percent reduction by 2030 and getting to net zero carbon emissions by 2050,” a campaign spokesman told The Post. “To achieve this we must reverse the disastrous Trump rollbacks to the Clean Power Plan and CAFE standards, while identifying new ways to decarbonize buildings and transportation as we are doing in NYC.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Bill de Blasio
de Blasio

Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Hawaii

Gabbard is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support rejoining the Paris climate agreement,” Gabbard told The Post. “Without global action to drastically curb carbon pollution, climate change threatens the safety and security of the planet, especially in places like Hawaii where we are already experiencing its devastating effects. The United States should be leading by example.” Gabbard supports requiring "global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from human sources of 40 to 60 percent from 2010 levels by 2030," and net-zero emissions both in the U.S. and globally by 2050, a campaign spokesperson told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard

Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New York

Gillibrand is no longer running for president. “We ... need to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, stop the expansion of offshore drilling and drilling on public lands and require companies to report climate risks,”campaign website said. Her campaign told The Post that Gillibrand “believes that globally, emissions targets should be adjusted to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and in the U.S., we should strive to achieve net zero carbon in the next ten years.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Kirsten Gillibrand
Gillibrand

Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, California

Harris is no longer running for president. Harris “will immediately rejoin the Paris Agreement and chart a path forward, demonstrating to the international community that the U.S. is deeply committed to global climate action,” her climate plan said. “[Harris] will set an ambitious updated target and set forth a bold mid-century strategy of reaching a carbon-neutral economy by 2045.”

May 2: “This isn’t sustainable. We can’t keep relocating our cities — we must fix the problem. Another reason why the United States must act now, rejoin the Paris Agreement, and pass the Green New Deal. ”

Candidate positions highlighted
Kamala Harris
Harris

Jay Inslee (Dropped out)

Governor, Washington state

Inslee is no longer running for president. “Yes. President Trump’s attempt to leave the Paris Agreement was one of the most shameful decisions of a shameful presidency. America can and should be a leader in the global fight against climate change. As president, I will recommit to the Paris accord and work on Day 1 to undo Donald Trump’s attacks on international climate progress,” Inslee told The Post. “I have proposed cutting U.S. greenhouse gas pollution by 50% by 2030, and achieving net-zero emissions throughout our economy no later than 2045.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Jay Inslee
Inslee

Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Minnesota

Klobuchar is no longer running for president. Klobuchar supports rejoining the Paris climate agreement and would change original emissions targets, her campaign told The Post. Her climate change plan calls for putting “our country on a path to achieving 100% net-zero emissions no later than 2050 ...”

Candidate positions highlighted
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar

Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Texas

O'Rourke is no longer running for president. “In order to resume our role on the world stage as the indispensable nation, we must re-enter the Paris Climate agreement and lead the negotiations for an even more ambitious global plan for 2030 and beyond,” an O’Rourke spokesman told The Post. “We can convene the powers of this planet together to act while there is still time and before it is too late — doing for ourselves and the world what no other country can do.” His climate plan calls for net zero U.S. emissions by 2050.

Candidate positions highlighted
Beto O'Rourke
O'Rourke

Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Vermont

Sanders is no longer running for president. “What President Trump did by withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord is an international disgrace,” a Sanders campaign spokesman said. Sanders “believes we must take bold action to fight climate change. While the Paris agreement was an important milestone toward solving climate change, even optimistic outcomes of these talks will not put the world on the path needed to avoid the most catastrophic results of climate change. We must think beyond Paris.” In his climate plan, Sanders said, “We will not only reduce US carbon pollution emissions by 71 percent, we will support less industrialized nations in the Global South, excluding China, to help them reduce emissions by 36 percent from 2017 levels by 2030, consistent with meeting our fair share of emissions reductions under the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recommendations.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Bernie Sanders
Sanders

Tom Steyer (Dropped out)

Billionaire activist

Steyer is no longer running for president. “Yes and we should increase the ambition of our current commitment,” Steyer told The Post. “We should set a strong specific target of eliminating fossil fuel pollution from all sectors to achieve a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero global warming pollution by no later than 2045.” His climate plan framework pledges to “restore America to its position as a global leader and an indispensable party to global efforts to take on the climate crisis by redoubling our commitment to the Paris Agreement ... and other vital international agreements.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tom Steyer
Steyer

Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Warren is no longer running for president. “I believe we need to return to the Paris Climate Accord,” Warren told The Post. “But we need to do far more to reduce global emissions.” Warren’s climate change plan includes “cutting carbon pollution roughly in half by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Elizabeth Warren
Warren

Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)

Author

Williamson is no longer running for president. “As president, I would immediately re-enter the Paris Climate Accords — while simultaneously working to expand talks to push for even more meaningful and enforceable agreements,” Williamson’s campaign site said. She would set a new target of “100% reduction of emissions by 2030,” she told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Marianne Williamson
Williamson

Yes and strengthen pledges

Yes and strengthen pledges

Steve Bullock (Dropped out)

Governor, Montana

Bullock is no longer running for president. “The Trump Administration has undermined our global leadership on tackling climate change, and unravelled component parts of the Agreement. I would rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement on day one of my administration, fund our international commitments on climate, and begin high-level, multilateral engagement with countries like China — which emits twice the carbon that the US does,” Bullock told The Post. “I believe that both the urgency to act and the need to reestablish global leadership on climate solutions requires the US to strengthen our commitment. While many signatories to the Paris Agreement have plans for climate change actions by 2050, I believe we can achieve many of the goals by 2040 or earlier.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Steve Bullock
Bullock

John Delaney (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Maryland

Delaney is no longer running for president. Delaney supports rejoining the Paris agreement and making the targets stronger, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Delaney
Delaney

John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)

Former governor, Colorado

May 20: “I will rejoin the Paris Climate Accords on my first day in office; and then exceed their targets and summon this generation of Americans to an all-out fight against climate change.”

Candidate positions highlighted
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper

Seth Moulton (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Massachusetts

Moulton is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support rejoining the Paris climate agreement,” Moulton told The Post. “And let’s not only get back into the Paris Accord, but make it stronger and better than it was before with lower emissions targets to match the scale and timing of the problem.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Seth Moulton
Moulton

Tim Ryan (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Ohio

Ryan is no longer running for president. “Yes. It is truly shameful that the United States is the only nation to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. As the richest and most powerful nation, we should not only be leading the fight stop climate change, but we should be working to reverse it,” Ryan told The Post. “[T]he Paris Climate Agreement is just a first step. We need to do more and be more ambitious.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tim Ryan
Ryan

Joe Sestak (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania

Sestak is no longer running for president. “We must work together with the rest of the world to deal with the existential threat of climate change — and recognize together that Paris was just a start,” Sestak told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Sestak
Sestak

Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, California

Swalwell is no longer running for president. “The United States must show world leadership on this crisis, including rejoining the Paris agreement – but the Paris goals are not ambitious enough,” Swalwell told The Post. “As President, I will convene a global climate summit in America in 2020 to reach a new international accord with more ambitious goals.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell

Andrew Yang (Dropped out)

Tech entrepreneur

Yang is no longer running for president. “America needs to rejoin the rest of the world in formally recognizing the threat posed by climate change and work with all nations to combat this existential crisis,” Yang told the New York Times. “The Paris Agreement doesn’t go far enough to mitigate climate change, and the U.S. should be a part of the conversation on what targets are necessary and how we can get to them.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Andrew Yang
Yang

Yes

Yes

Deval Patrick (Dropped out)

Former governor, Massachusetts

Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrick backed re-joining the Paris climate agreement at a New Hampshire event, according to WBUR.

Candidate positions highlighted
Deval Patrick
Patrick

Hover for more information

Tap for info

Background President Trump intends to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, under which the United States had pledged by 2025 to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26 percent of its 2005 levels. This will leave the United States the only country to reject the agreement. As the second-largest global emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States would need to do considerably more than President Obama promised in order to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, experts say.

Global emissions pledges are not on track to limit warming to 1.5°C

CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions

150 billion tons

Next presidential

term

100

50

0

2000

2021

2050

2100

Source: Climate Action Tracker

Global emissions pledges are not on track to limit warming to 1.5°C

CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions

150 billion tons

Next presidential

term

100

50

0

2021

2100

2000

2050

Source: Climate Action Tracker

Global emissions pledges are not on track to limit warming to 1.5°C

CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions

150 billion tons

Next presidential

term

100

50

0

2000

2021

2050

2100

Source: Climate Action Tracker

Question 6 of 9

Yes

Yes, end federal leasing

Joe Biden

Former vice president

Biden's climate change plan commits to “banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters.” It also commits to “establishing targeted programs to enhance reforestation and develop renewables on federal lands and waters with the goal of doubling offshore wind by 2030.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Biden
Biden

Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)

Former New York mayor

Bloomberg is no longer running for president. “Yes. I will immediately end all new fossil fuel leases on federal land, ban offshore drilling, and expedite clean energy development on federal lands along with offshore wind,” Bloomberg told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Mike Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Cory Booker (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New Jersey

Booker is no longer running for president. Booker supports ending new fossil fuel extraction leases on federal lands, he told The Post. In his climate plan, Booker vows to “sign an executive order barring all new onshore or offshore fossil fuel leases.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Cory Booker
Booker

Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)

Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.

Buttigieg is no longer running for president. Buttigieg supports ending new leases for fossil fuel extraction on federal lands, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg

Julian Castro (Dropped out)

Former mayor, San Antonio

Castro is no longer running for president. “Castro would end leasing of federal lands for fossil fuel extraction and exploration, including for fracking,” a campaign spokesperson told The Post. His climate plan said, “we will immediately stop the exploration and extraction of fossil fuels on public lands and end all taxpayer subsidies of fossil fuel production.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Julian Castro
Castro

Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)

Mayor, New York City

de Blasio is no longer running for president. De Blasio supports stopping new fossil fuel extraction leases on federal lands, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Bill de Blasio
de Blasio

John Delaney (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Maryland

Delaney is no longer running for president. Delaney supports stopping new fossil fuel extraction leases on federal lands, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Delaney
Delaney

Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Hawaii

Gabbard is no longer running for president. “Yes, I would end the leasing of federal land and waters for fossil fuel extraction,” Gabbard told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard

Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New York

Gillibrand is no longer running for president. She co-sponsored the Keep It in the Ground Act of 2017. “We also need to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, stop the expansion of offshore drilling and drilling on public lands and require companies to report climate risks,” her campaign website said.

Candidate positions highlighted
Kirsten Gillibrand
Gillibrand

Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, California

Harris is no longer running for president. Harris “will phase out all fossil fuel development on public lands and implement conservation and renewable energy strategies to make our public lands net carbon sinks by 2030,” her climate plan said. “After immediately halting all new fossil fuel leases on federal lands and waters, Kamala will use existing authorities and work with Congress to phase out existing leases and implement emissions mitigation strategies such as capping methane flaring and linking production royalties to the social cost of carbon so that oil and gas companies are paying for the climate damages they are causing.” Harris co-sponsored bills to designate certain areas as protected wilderness.

Candidate positions highlighted
Kamala Harris
Harris

John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)

Former governor, Colorado

Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. “Yes, for new leases,” Hickenlooper told The Post. “As president, I will be committed to urgently addressing the climate challenges we face. Recognizing that emissions from fossil fuels extracted from U.S. public lands account for around 25% of total U.S. emissions, as president I would ban new leases for fossil fuel extraction on federal lands.”

Candidate positions highlighted
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper

Jay Inslee (Dropped out)

Governor, Washington state

Inslee is no longer running for president. “Yes. I support the 'Keep It In the Ground Act,' and as president, I would take immediate executive action to ban new fossil fuel leasing on public lands and offshore waters,” Inslee told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Jay Inslee
Inslee

Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Minnesota

Klobuchar is no longer running for president. Klobuchar supports ending new leases for fossil fuel extraction on federal lands, a campaign spokesperson told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar

Seth Moulton (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Massachusetts

Moulton is no longer running for president. “Yes. We need to listen to science,” Moulton told The Post. “That means protecting America’s natural environment from degradation associated with energy extraction. As President, I’d do whatever it takes to protect our public lands for this generation and those to come.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Seth Moulton
Moulton

Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Texas

O'Rourke is no longer running for president. O’Rourke “will set a first-ever, net-zero emissions by 2030 carbon budget for federal lands, stopping new fossil fuel leases, changing royalties to reflect climate costs, and accelerating renewables development and forestation,” a campaign spokesman told The Post. He pledged to “protect our most wild, beautiful, and biodiverse places for generations to come — including more of the Arctic and of our sensitive landscapes and seascapes than ever before — and establish National Parks and Monuments that more fully tell our American story.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Beto O'Rourke
O'Rourke

Deval Patrick (Dropped out)

Former governor, Massachusetts

Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrck supports stopping new fossil fuel extraction leases on federal lands, a campaign spokesperson told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Deval Patrick
Patrick

Tim Ryan (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Ohio

Ryan is no longer running for president. Ryan supports stopping new fossil fuel extraction leases on federal lands, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tim Ryan
Ryan

Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Vermont

Sanders is no longer running for president. Sanders “is proud to have introduced the Keep It in the Ground Act in 2015 with Senator Merkley,” his campaign told The Post. He “believes that if we are truly serious about leaving a planet that is habitable for our grandchildren, we must keep oil, gas, and coal in the ground.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Bernie Sanders
Sanders

Joe Sestak (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania

Sestak is no longer running for president. Sestak supports stopping new fossil fuel extraction leases on federal lands, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Sestak
Sestak

Tom Steyer (Dropped out)

Billionaire activist

Steyer is no longer running for president. “Keep publicly-owned oil, coal, and gas in the ground by stopping the expansion of fossil fuel leases and establishing a careful process to wind down federal onshore and offshore fossil fuel production,” Steyer's climate plan framework said.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tom Steyer
Steyer

Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, California

Swalwell is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support ending the leasing of federal land and waters for fossil fuel extraction,” Swalwell told The Post. “I have co-sponsored and voted for numerous bills to ban oil extraction from federal lands.

Candidate positions highlighted
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell

Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Warren is no longer running for president. “Any serious effort to address climate change must include public lands,” Warren told The Post. “As president, I would issue an executive order on day one banning all new fossil fuel leases, including for drilling or fracking offshore and on public lands.” In her clean energy plan, Warren pledges “to generate 10% of our overall electricity needs from renewable sources offshore or on public lands.” She co-sponsored the Keep It in the Ground Act of 2017.

Candidate positions highlighted
Elizabeth Warren
Warren

Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)

Author

Williamson is no longer running for president. “Marianne Williamson believes any public land policy must not do further damage to our environment. Sen. Warren's plan is a good template and a reasonable place to begin,” a Williamson spokesman told E&E News. Warren pledged to ban new fossil fuel leasing on federal lands.

Candidate positions highlighted
Marianne Williamson
Williamson

Andrew Yang (Dropped out)

Tech entrepreneur

Yang is no longer running for president. Yang supports ending leasing for fossil fuel extraction on federal lands, his campaign told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Andrew Yang
Yang

No

No, don’t end federal leasing

Steve Bullock (Dropped out)

Governor, Montana

Bullock is no longer running for president. “No. I believe other policy measures can be used to appropriately transition our current framework of federal leasing and to better reflect the social cost of greenhouse gases from extraction,” Bullock told The Post. He opposed Obama's 2016 move to stop new coal leasing on federal lands.

Candidate positions highlighted
Steve Bullock
Bullock

Unclear/No response

Unclear/No response

Michael Bennet (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Colorado

Bennet is no longer running for president. Bennet did not provide an answer to this question by publication.

Candidate positions highlighted
Michael Bennet
Bennet

Hover for more information

Tap for info

Background A significant amount of the nation’s fossil fuel production happens on federal lands and waters — 42 percent of coal, 24 percent of crude oil and 13 percent of natural gas in 2017. The extraction and combustion of these fuels accounted for nearly a quarter of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions between 2005 and 2014, according to a study from the U.S. Geological Survey study. The Keep It In the Ground Act by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) would end new federal leases for fossil fuel extraction on federal lands and waters. The Obama administration issued a moratorium on coal leasing in 2016, but it was reversed by the Trump administration, an action that has led to an ongoing legal battle.

U.S. fossil fuel production in 2017

Shown as the amount of CO2 that would be generated by burning the fuel

Coal

595M tons produced on federal land

 

1.4B tons

U.S. total

Crude oil

346M tons

1.5B tons

Natural gas

239M tons

2B tons

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. fossil fuel production in 2017

Shown as the amount of CO2 that would be generated by burning the fuel

Coal

Crude oil

Natural gas

595M tons produced on federal land

346M tons

239M tons

1.4B tons

U.S. total

2B tons

1.5B tons

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. fossil fuel production in 2017

Shown as the amount of CO2 that would be generated by burning the fuel

Coal

Crude oil

Natural gas

595M tons produced on federal land

346M tons

239M tons

1.4B tons

U.S. total

1.5B tons

2B tons

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency

Question 7 of 9

Yes

Yes, supports

Candidates who co-sponsored or endorsed the Green New Deal resolution.

Joe Biden

Former vice president

“Biden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face. It powerfully captures two basic truths, which are at the core of his plan: (1) the United States urgently needs to embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge, and (2) our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected,” his climate change plan said. Biden adopts the rhetoric — and at times, the actual policy proposals — of the Green New Deal resolution.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Biden
Biden

Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)

Former New York mayor

Bloomberg is no longer running for president. “Yes. I support the climate goals of the Green New Deal resolution. Unfortunately, the Republican Senate is blocking action on climate, but as president I will take immediate and ambitious steps to combat climate change, beginning on my first day in office,” Bloomberg told The Post. “I will accelerate the U.S. toward a 100% clean energy economy. We will slash greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 50% by 2030 and work to fully decarbonize the economy by mid-century at the latest ... As president, we will both dramatically reduce carbon and pursue environmental justice. By focusing on federal rulemaking, enforcement, and investments in communities disproportionately affected by the production and use of fossil fuels, I will prioritize the communities that have suffered from pollution the most.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Mike Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Cory Booker (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New Jersey

Booker is no longer running for president. Booker “was an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal resolution in the Senate because he believes we need to act with an urgency and force that meets the scale of the challenge that we face,” his climate plan said. “As president, [Booker] will unite Americans to heal our atmosphere, our lands, and our communities with a bold vision for achieving a 100% clean energy economy quickly and equitably. Together, we will create millions of new high-paying jobs building the energy technologies, infrastructure, buildings, and vehicles of the future. We will invent new technologies and materials as innovative and resilient as we are. And we will be a moral leader on the world stage.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Cory Booker
Booker

Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)

Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.

Buttigieg is no longer running for president. Buttigieg supports the Green New Deal resolution, he told The Post. “Now in terms of broader question about jobs. This is extremely important in the industrial Midwest where I live and again people need to see where they have a role in this future and a role beside that of victim,” Buttigieg told a CNN climate town hall. “A lot of the jobs that are being created in the green economy are also good paying union jobs. And not all of them are exotic, a lot of them are good old fashioned building trades jobs that we're going to need more of to do the retrofits to get the energy efficiency that we need. We can create tremendous economic opportunity but let's be honest about the fact that this also means transition for a lot of people.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg

Julian Castro (Dropped out)

Former mayor, San Antonio

Castro is no longer running for president. Castro supports the Green New Deal, he told The Post. “We will mobilize America around this mission for a historic investment in the American people and our planet. That’s the benefit of a Green New Deal: we will build a 100 percent clean energy economy that both combats the climate crisis and tackles structural inequality,” his climate plan said.

Jan. 12: “We're gonna say no to subsidizing big oil and say yes to passing a Green New Deal.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Julian Castro
Castro

Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)

Mayor, New York City

de Blasio is no longer running for president. “Yes, I support the Green New Deal resolution,” de Blasio told The Post. “In New York City we have already begun implementing a Green New Deal. Our Green New Deal policy centers on a mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at city buildings, the equivalent of removing 1.3 million cars from the roads, while creating more than 25,000 high quality jobs. Along with other policies, the buildings mandate puts NYC on a path to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 and to carbon neutrality by 2050.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Bill de Blasio
de Blasio

Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Hawaii

Gabbard is no longer running for president. “I support the carbon neutrality goals of the Green New Deal and the awareness it has brought across the country on the critical issues of energy independence and the climate crisis, however, I do not support ‘leaving the door open’ to nuclear power unless and until there is a permanent solution to the problem of nuclear waste," Gabbard told The Post. "I believe we need to invest in 100% renewable and safe energy sources like wind, solar, and geothermal." Gabbard did not co-sponsor the Green New Deal resolution.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard

Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New York

Gillibrand is no longer running for president. Gillibrand “was one of the first supporters of the Green New Deal, a moonshot strategy that would take major steps to save our planet by investing in infrastructure, creating a green jobs economy and protecting clean air and water,” Gillibrand's campaign website said. She co-sponsored the Green New Deal resolution.

Candidate positions highlighted
Kirsten Gillibrand
Gillibrand

Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, California

Harris is no longer running for president. Harris co-sponsored the Green New Deal resolution. “So, again, back to the United States Congress, here's my point. If they fail to act, as president of the United States, I am prepared to get rid of the filibuster to pass a Green New Deal,” Harris told a CNN climate town hall.

Apr. 24: “We must take climate change seriously and act with a sense of urgency. The clock is ticking and we can do something about it. I support the #GreenNewDeal because every day we wait is a day we fail future generations.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Kamala Harris
Harris

Jay Inslee (Dropped out)

Governor, Washington state

Inslee is no longer running for president. “I applaud Sen. Markey and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez for introducing the Green New Deal resolution," Inslee told The Post. "I have rolled out an ambitious Climate Mission, a 10-year mobilization that would move America to 100% clean energy and create 8 million jobs in a clean energy economy. I'm honored that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and many of the grassroots leaders behind the Green New Deal have praised my plan as the most comprehensive plan towards a clean energy future.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Jay Inslee
Inslee

Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Minnesota

Klobuchar is no longer running for president. “My plan is definite that we have to go to carbon neutral by no later than 2050,” Klobuchar told a CNN climate town hall. “I'm a cosponsor of the Green New Deal, so I'd like to see it even sooner, right? But at the outset, when I look at the numbers, I think we should at least get this done — we have to by 2050. And we have to limit this to 2.7 degrees warming Fahrenheit or we're going to be in a whole lot more trouble than we are already are in today.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar

Seth Moulton (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Massachusetts

Moulton is no longer running for president. “I was one of the first to sign onto the resolution, but ... I have my own views on the details,” Moulton told The Post. “Rather than a jobs guarantee and forcing everyone onto Medicare-for-All ... we need policies like a skills guarantee, a carbon tax, and the Federal Green Corps, which is part of my vision for dramatically expanding national service.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Seth Moulton
Moulton

Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Texas

O'Rourke is no longer running for president. O’Rourke “supports the Green New Deal’s ambition in terms of the speed, size, and scale of sacrifice needed,” a campaign spokesman told The Post, calling for “investments in renewable energy and ... transition away from greenhouse gas-emitting energy sources to reach the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Beto O'Rourke
O'Rourke

Deval Patrick (Dropped out)

Former governor, Massachusetts

Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrick supports the goals of the Green New Deal resolution and plans to release a climate plan soon, a campaign spokesperson told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Deval Patrick
Patrick

Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Vermont

Sanders is no longer running for president. Sanders “not only cosponsored the Green New Deal resolution in the Senate, he will fight to pass a Green New Deal to generate millions of jobs and save American families money by transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels to 100 percent energy efficiency and sustainable energy,” a campaign spokesman told The Post. ”A Green New Deal will protect workers and the communities in which they live to ensure a transition to family-sustaining wage, union jobs and a green, sustainable economy.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Bernie Sanders
Sanders

Tom Steyer (Dropped out)

Billionaire activist

Steyer is no longer running for president. “In addition to taking bold executive actions, I will challenge Congress to pass vital legislation to enact a Green New Deal and provide additional funding to protect the country against climate and weather-related natural disasters,” Steyer's climate plan framework said.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tom Steyer
Steyer

Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, California

Swalwell is no longer running for president. Swalwell co-sponsored the Green New Deal resolution.

Candidate positions highlighted
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell

Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Warren is no longer running for president. “I am an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal resolution, which commits the United States to meet 100 percent of our power demand through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources,” Warren told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Elizabeth Warren
Warren

Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)

Author

Williamson is no longer running for president. “A Green New Deal would provide an overall strategy for how clean energy, sustainable infrastructure and transportation, and a national green jobs program can revitalize our economy and utilize our innovative and human capacity to benefit all our people,” Williamson's campaign site said. “While it doesn’t cover the whole range of measures we must undertake to reverse global warming, it is an important step, therefore I support it.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Marianne Williamson
Williamson

Andrew Yang (Dropped out)

Tech entrepreneur

Yang is no longer running for president. “I love the vision of the Green New Deal,” Yang told a CNN climate town hall. “The framers of it have done us all a great service by energizing so many people around a vision. And, to me, the only issue I have with the Green New Deal is the timing of the timeline. I mean, they are right that we need to take urgent action, but the timeline that they have put out there would do away with commercial air travel and a lot of other things in a particular time frame, that, if we have a little bit more time, we can head in the same direction and achieve most of the same value.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Andrew Yang
Yang

Prefers something else

Prefers something else

Others preferred a different plan, or cheered the ambition but questioned how realistic it was.

Michael Bennet (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Colorado

Bennet is no longer running for president. “The Green New Deal has lifted the climate change debate and set strong goals, both of which are critically important. But it also includes policies such as paid vacation and affordable housing, which we should evaluate on their own merits, but not in a climate plan,” Bennet told The Post. “My plan catalyzes $10 trillion in private sector investment at home and abroad; it sets the first and most ambitious goal in history to conserve 30% of our lands and oceans, and it achieves net zero emissions as fast as possible and no later than by 2050 ...”

Candidate positions highlighted
Michael Bennet
Bennet

Steve Bullock (Dropped out)

Governor, Montana

Bullock is no longer running for president. “I believe US climate policy must be ambitious, durable, and that a bipartisan foundation is essential to meeting long term climate goals,” Bullock told The Post. “As for the particulars of the resolution introduced in Congress, we can do better with a more focused plan ... we should significantly increase renewable energy, reverse the Trump Administration’s cuts to fuel efficiency standards and expand them to address the 37% of emissions that come from transportation, improve energy efficiency which could account for 30% of our overall goal, and follow the IPCC’s recommendation to invest in carbon capture.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Steve Bullock
Bullock

John Delaney (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Maryland

Delaney is no longer running for president. Delaney does not support the Green New Deal, he told The Post. He has introduced a climate plan centered on a carbon tax.

Feb. 14: “The Green New Deal as it has been proposed is about as realistic as Trump saying that Mexico is going to pay for the wall. Let's focus on what's possible, not what's impossible. #GND #GreenNewDeal”

Candidate positions highlighted
John Delaney
Delaney

John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)

Former governor, Colorado

Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. “The resolution sets unachievable goals,” Hickenlooper wrote in a Post op-ed in March. “We do not yet have the technology needed to reach ‘net-zero greenhouse gas emissions’ in 10 years. That’s why many wind and solar companies don’t support it.”

Candidate positions highlighted
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper

Tim Ryan (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Ohio

Ryan is no longer running for president. “The Green New Deal Resolution does a great job of outlining the critical economic and environmental issues facing our nation, and how addressing the nexus of the two [is essential],” Ryan told The Post, but he said he does not support some aspects such as job guarantees and universal basic income.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tim Ryan
Ryan

Joe Sestak (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania

Sestak is no longer running for president. “I am supportive of the emissions targets included in the Green New Deal, but not every policy prescription in the resolution. I have a detailed plan to address climate change as part of my Plan for America, available on my website,” Sestak told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Sestak
Sestak

Hover for more information

Tap for info

Background Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) along with Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a nonbinding resolution in February 2019 calling for a Green New Deal, which aims to achieve a “fair and just transition” to net-zero emissions and ties climate action to other progressive goals such as universal health care and a jobs guarantee. The resolution, which became the subject of GOP mockery, has drawn criticism from labor leaders and some Democratic presidential hopefuls.

In a poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation in the summer of 2019, more than 3 in 4 Americans had heard little or nothing about the Green New Deal. While overall opinion was split, opposition rose among those most familiar with the plan.

Question 8 of 9

Yes

Yes, eliminate

Joe Biden

Former vice president

“There is simply no excuse for subsidizing fossil fuel, either in the United States or around the world,” Biden‘s climate change plan said. “In fact, a 2015 International Monetary Fund study showed that efficient fossil fuel pricing would have reduced global carbon emissions by nearly 30%. Biden will build on the achievements of the Obama-Biden Administration to get G20 countries to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. By engaging key leaders, including in China, Biden will secure a global commitment to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies by the end of his first term. He will lead by example, with the United States cutting fossil fuel subsidies at home in his first year and redirecting these resources to the historic investment in clean energy infrastructure.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Biden
Biden

Michael Bennet (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Colorado

Bennet is no longer running for president. Bennet told The Post he supports eliminating many federal subsidies for fossil fuels, including “intangible drilling costs, percentage depletion, deductions for tertiary injectants and credits for enhanced oil recovery.” His climate plan said he’ll use the saved money to “offer retrofits and access to zero-emission energy like community solar” for struggling families.

Candidate positions highlighted
Michael Bennet
Bennet

Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)

Former New York mayor

Bloomberg is no longer running for president. “Yes. I will eliminate all fossil fuel subsidies,” Bloomberg told The Post. “I will close tax loopholes, end tax breaks for drilling new oil and gas wells and deductions for royalties paid abroad, and eliminate excessive tax deductions for declining well production. I will also partner with other countries to jointly end export assistance for fossil fuel investments.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Mike Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Cory Booker (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New Jersey

Booker is no longer running for president. “Yes. I am a cosponsor of the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act and believe we can go further towards eliminating fossil fuel subsidies,” Booker told The Post. In his climate plan, Booker pledged to “accelerate the end of fossil fuels by immediately eliminating all fossil fuel subsidies.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Cory Booker
Booker

Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)

Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.

Buttigieg is no longer running for president. “I would eliminate tax write offs for fossil fuel companies,” Buttigieg told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg

Julian Castro (Dropped out)

Former mayor, San Antonio

Castro is no longer running for president. Castro favors eliminating federal subsidies for fossil fuels, he told The Post. His climate plan said, “we will immediately stop the exploration and extraction of fossil fuels on public lands and end all taxpayer subsidies of fossil fuel production.”

Jan. 12: “We’re gonna say no to subsidizing big oil and say yes to passing a Green New Deal.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Julian Castro
Castro

Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)

Mayor, New York City

de Blasio is no longer running for president. De Blasio supports eliminating federal subsidies for fossil fuels, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Bill de Blasio
de Blasio

John Delaney (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Maryland

Delaney is no longer running for president. Delaney supports ending subsidies for fossil fuels and said “use the subsidies to invest in direct air capture to remove CO2 directly from the air.”

Candidate positions highlighted
John Delaney
Delaney

Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Hawaii

Gabbard is no longer running for president. “Yes, I’m in favor of eliminating all federal subsidies for fossil fuels. I don’t believe in government welfare for rich and powerful multinational corporations that represents the worst of crony capitalism,” Gabbard told The Post. “The American people should not be footing the bill for an industry that destroys our environment and quality of life.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard

Kirsten Gillibrand (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New York

Gillibrand is no longer running for president. Gillibrand “believes that our tax policy should be changed to incentivize investment away from fossil fuels and towards clean and renewable energy,” a campaign spokesman told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Kirsten Gillibrand
Gillibrand

Kamala D. Harris (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, California

Harris is no longer running for president. Harris “will end federal subsidies for fossil fuels and hold Big Oil accountable for its role in the climate crisis,” her climate plan said. “As Kamala holds polluters accountable, she will ensure that the hardworking employees of these companies become the builders of the clean economy of the future. That’s why the families of fossil fuel workers are included in her Climate Equity Act, which will ensure that these workers help form the policies that will create millions of new jobs.” She co-sponsored the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act.

Candidate positions highlighted
Kamala Harris
Harris

John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)

Former governor, Colorado

Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. “Yes, we need to move away from fossil fuel subsidies over time as we must take a phased approach so that workers in these industries are not unduly impacted and are able to transition to new jobs,” Hickenlooper told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper

Jay Inslee (Dropped out)

Governor, Washington state

Inslee is no longer running for president. “Yes. As president, I will eliminate all subsidies for fossil fuel companies, full stop,” Inslee told The Post. “And we must go further – in addition to monetary subsidies, we must get the federal government out of the business of fossil fuel giveaways that unfairly and irresponsibly sustain industries that are endangering the future of our country and world. The gravy train must be over.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Jay Inslee
Inslee

Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Minnesota

Klobuchar is no longer running for president. Klobuchar favors eliminating federal subsidies for fossil fuels, her campaign told The Post. She co-sponsored the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act.

Candidate positions highlighted
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar

Seth Moulton (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Massachusetts

Moulton is no longer running for president. “Yes. The more than $15 billion that we spend subsidizing the fossil fuel industry will end during my administration,” Moulton told The Post. “We also subsidize fossil fuels to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars by not charging for the pollution they put into our atmosphere. By incorporating a carbon price into the cost of fossil fuels, we will gradually eliminate the largest subsidy to the industry and lower the cost future generations will have to pay.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Seth Moulton
Moulton

Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Texas

O'Rourke is no longer running for president. O'Rourke's plan “would finally end the tens of billions of dollars of subsidies that are currently given to fossil fuel companies,” a campaign spokesman told The Post. “In particular, he would focus on closing tax loopholes aimed at fossil fuel companies and changing royalty rates to reflect climate costs.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Beto O'Rourke
O'Rourke

Deval Patrick (Dropped out)

Former governor, Massachusetts

Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrick supports eliminating federal subsidies for fossil fuels, a campaign spokesperson told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Deval Patrick
Patrick

Tim Ryan (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Ohio

Ryan is no longer running for president. “Yes. Currently, direct, permanent fossil fuel subsidies are approximately $2 billion higher than temporary subsidies for renewable energy,” Ryan told The Post. “I would support cutting direct production subsidies for fossil fuels and would redirect those funds to investing in renewable energy production, distribution, and storage.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tim Ryan
Ryan

Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Vermont

Sanders is no longer running for president. “When [Sanders] is in the White House, he will end all federal subsidies that benefit fossil fuel companies,” a campaign spokesman told The Post. “When fossil-fuel companies are racking up massive profits, it is absurd to provide huge taxpayer subsidies to pad their already enormous earnings. After all, it is immoral that some in Congress advocate harsh cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security while those same people vote to preserve billions in tax breaks for the most profitable corporations in America.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Bernie Sanders
Sanders

Joe Sestak (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania

Sestak is no longer running for president. Sestak supports eliminating federal subsidies for fossil fuels, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Sestak
Sestak

Tom Steyer (Dropped out)

Billionaire activist

Steyer is no longer running for president. “End all forms of government giveaways to big polluters at the expense of American taxpayers, including unlimited and unpriced global warming pollution, direct subsidies, tax breaks, lax and under-enforced environmental and worker protections, and the sale of public resources at giveaway prices,” Steyer's climate plan framework said.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tom Steyer
Steyer

Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, California

Swalwell is no longer running for president. “Yes, I am in favor of eliminating these subsidies as an important step towards transitioning from fossil fuels to low-carbon technologies,” Swalwell told The Post. “Among those that should be eliminated: writing off intangible drilling costs, writing off depletion of oil and gas wells, ending tax expenditures which allow oil companies to deduct taxes during the oil-well development process, and domestic manufacturing deductions and deductions for fossil fuel exploration.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell

Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Warren is no longer running for president. “I oppose subsidies for fossil fuel companies,” Warren told The Post. “I’ve co-sponsored bills, like the American Energy Innovation Act and Senator Schatz’s FAIR Energy Policy Act, which would get rid of these subsidies.” She co-sponsored the Close Big Oil Loopholes Act.

Candidate positions highlighted
Elizabeth Warren
Warren

Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)

Author

Williamson is no longer running for president. “Yes — all of them,” Williamson told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Marianne Williamson
Williamson

Andrew Yang (Dropped out)

Tech entrepreneur

Yang is no longer running for president. “I’d get rid of them all. Why would you leave any of them?” Yang said when asked at a CNN town hall if he would eliminate some fossil fuel subsidies. On his campaign website, Yang pledges to “end the current tax benefits and cuts given to fossil fuel companies which give them an unwarranted competitive advantage over alternative energy sources.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Andrew Yang
Yang

Unclear/No response

Unclear/No response

Steve Bullock (Dropped out)

Governor, Montana

Bullock is no longer running for president. “In recent years, the energy industry has spent $354 million to influence our elections and government while they received $29.4 billion in federal subsidies,” Bullock told The Post. “Addressing the influence of dark money spending in our elections is one of the first steps in addressing climate change. I would support a comprehensive review of energy extraction, exploration, production and distribution taxation to determine reforms that equitably address the need for low and zero greenhouse gas emission technologies.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Steve Bullock
Bullock

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Background The federal government subsidizes fossil fuel exploration and production through a number of tax breaks. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that these tax breaks cost $4.6 billion in 2016. The Trump administration proposed a rule that would prop up coal by crediting power plants that keep a 90-day supply of fuel; it was rejected by regulators.

Question 9 of 9

Offsetting emissions

Offsetting emissions

Joe Biden

Former vice president

Biden's campaign is offsetting emissions, a spokesman told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Biden
Biden

Mike Bloomberg (Dropped out)

Former New York mayor

Bloomberg is no longer running for president. “Fighting climate change has been one of my top priorities as a mayor, business leader, and philanthropist,” Bloomberg told The Post. “I helped launch Beyond Coal, which has been called the most effective campaign in the history of the environmental movement and has retired more than half of all U.S.1 coal plants since its inception. Last year I launched Beyond Carbon, the largest-ever coordinated campaign to fight the climate crisis in the U.S. Overall, my personal investment in the global fight against climate change has reached about $1 billion and continues to grow.” His campaign is offsetting emissions, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Mike Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Bernie Sanders (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Vermont

Sanders is no longer running for president. “Our campaign offsets all carbon emissions produced from travel activities and events by investing in renewable energy and carbon reduction projects,” a campaign spokesman told The Post. “Bernie Sanders is a champion in the fight for climate justice and knows we need to address our emissions through action, not just rhetoric. Bernie is proud to lead the way in the fight against climate change by acting boldly to move our energy system away from fossil fuels and towards sustainable energy sources.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Bernie Sanders
Sanders

Tom Steyer (Dropped out)

Billionaire activist

Steyer is no longer running for president. “The campaign is purchasing carbon offsets,” Steyer told The Post. “Our campaign strongly considers sustainability when choosing which supplies to purchase and which vendors to use. We use video conferencing to reduce staff travel, encourage the use of public transportation for daily commutes, and only fly commercial. Additionally, we are setting up a distributed organizing program to make sure that supporters can volunteer from home.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Tom Steyer
Steyer

Elizabeth Warren (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Massachusetts

Warren is no longer running for president. “Climate change is a threat to the safety and health of Americans — and it disproportionately impacts our most vulnerable communities. I’m in this fight all the way — and that includes offsetting emissions in this campaign,” Warren told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Elizabeth Warren
Warren

Taking steps to reduce emissions

Taking steps to reduce emissions

Cory Booker (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, New Jersey

Booker is no longer running for president. “As a campaign we make every effort to reduce our carbon footprint, including by renting a highly energy efficient headquarters, encouraging public transit use for our employees, and engaging in recycling,” Booker told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Cory Booker
Booker

Julian Castro (Dropped out)

Former mayor, San Antonio

Castro is no longer running for president. Castro's campaign is working to reduce its carbon footprint, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Julian Castro
Castro

John Delaney (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Maryland

Delaney is no longer running for president. “We have implemented an environmentally friendly approach to all of our campaign offices and our use of renewable resources. We prioritized having LEED certified and Metro accessible office space for our MD headquarters and reducing the carbon footprint of our campaign travel,” Delaney told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Delaney
Delaney

Tulsi Gabbard (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Hawaii

Gabbard is no longer running for president. Gabbard’s campaign is taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint, a campaign spokeswoman told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard

John Hickenlooper (Dropped out)

Former governor, Colorado

Hickenlooper is no longer running for president. Hickenlooper’s campaign is taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint, a campaign spokesman told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper

Amy Klobuchar (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Minnesota

Klobuchar is no longer running for president. Klobuchar's campaign is tracking its carbon footprint and working to reduce it, a campaign spokesman told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar

Seth Moulton (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Massachusetts

Moulton is no longer running for president. “We are working on tracking the carbon footprint of our campaign and are always looking to reduce it,” Moulton told The Post. “We as an office have a preference for rail transport, have gone paperless, and are located in a coworking space to share resources.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Seth Moulton
Moulton

Eric Swalwell (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, California

Swalwell is no longer running for president. “I have signed the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge, agreeing to not accept donations from the oil, gas, and coal industry,” Swalwell told The Post. “Our campaign headquarters leases space in a building with updated, energy-saving lighting and heating systems, earning city and regional green-business certifications. We’ve made energy-efficient choices in our computers, copiers and other office equipment. I always want to walk the walk, and my campaign is exploring options to make sure that we really undo our emissions and we're not just buying hot air.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell

Andrew Yang (Dropped out)

Tech entrepreneur

Yang is no longer running for president. Yang’s campaign is taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint, the campaign told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Andrew Yang
Yang

Looking into it

Looking into it

Michael Bennet (Dropped out)

U.S. senator, Colorado

Bennet is no longer running for president. “We just launched a few weeks ago, and we will certainly take a look at this,” Bennet told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Michael Bennet
Bennet

Pete Buttigieg (Dropped out)

Former mayor, South Bend, Ind.

Buttigieg is no longer running for president. Buttigieg’s campaign is looking into how to address its carbon footprint, a campaign spokesman told The Post. “I’m interested in decarbonizing the fuel that goes into air travel. I also don’t believe we're going to abolish air travel. This is a big country. And while I absolutely think we can do more to provide alternatives, like trains, I don’t think that we’re going to solve the question on how to get around the world without air travel. This is the sort of thing that I think we need to look at in a commonsense kind of way. ... Sometimes I fly because this is a very big country and I’m running to be president of the whole country,” Buttigieg said when his use of private air travel was questioned at a CNN climate town hall

Candidate positions highlighted
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg

Bill de Blasio (Dropped out)

Mayor, New York City

de Blasio is no longer running for president. De Blasio's campaign said it was "looking into" reducing its carbon footprint.

Candidate positions highlighted
Bill de Blasio
de Blasio

Jay Inslee (Dropped out)

Governor, Washington state

Inslee is no longer running for president. “I believe that the most important thing that a presidential campaign can do to address climate change is to make it the top priority and put forward concrete plans to defeat climate change of the scale called for by the science, the existential threat posed by climate change, and the opportunity involved in the creation of a clean energy economy,” Inslee told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Jay Inslee
Inslee

Beto O'Rourke (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Texas

O'Rourke is no longer running for president. “In order to reach our ambitious climate goals, everyone will have to sacrifice and do their part to reign in the use of fossil fuels. We are currently looking at various ways we can address the campaign’s carbon footprint through rigorously verified offsets certified by American Carbon Registry, Climate Action Reserve, or Verra — especially those that spur conservation and create new profit opportunities for farmers and ranchers.”

Candidate positions highlighted
Beto O'Rourke
O'Rourke

Deval Patrick (Dropped out)

Former governor, Massachusetts

Patrick is no longer running for president. Patrick's campaign is looking into how to address its carbon footprint, a campaign spokesman told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Deval Patrick
Patrick

Tim Ryan (Dropped out)

U.S. representative, Ohio

Ryan is no longer running for president. “I believe it is important for every citizen to do their own part, however small, to help reverse climate change. My campaign will lead by example and plans to stand by those goals,” Ryan told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Tim Ryan
Ryan

Joe Sestak (Dropped out)

Former U.S. representative, Pennsylvania

Sestak is no longer running for president. Sestak's campaign is looking into how to address its carbon footprint, he told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Joe Sestak
Sestak

Marianne Williamson (Dropped out)

Author

Williamson is no longer running for president. Williamson's campaign is looking into buying carbon offsets for travel and other activities, a spokeswoman told The Post.

Candidate positions highlighted
Marianne Williamson
Williamson

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Background Political campaigns can generate a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, especially through the use of private jets for air travel. Several campaigns told The Post they operate out of energy- efficient buildings and encourage staffers to use public transit and hybrid cars when traveling. Some campaigns raised the possibility of offsetting their emissions by purchasing credits meant to reduce or capture emissions.

Juliet Eilperin, Dino Grandoni, Jeff Stein and Kevin Schaul contributed to this report.

A previous version of this article incorrectly categorized Elizabeth Warren and Julian Castro’s responses to the Paris climate agreement question.

How we compiled candidate positions

The Washington Post sent a detailed questionnaire to every Democratic campaign asking whether they support various climate change policies. We organized candidates with similar stances into groups using a combination of those answers, legislative records, action taken in an executive role and other public comments, such as policy discussion on campaign websites, social media posts, interviews, town halls and other news reports. See something that we missed? Let us know.

This page will update as we learn more about the candidates’ plans. We also will note if candidates change their position on an issue. At initial publication, this page included major candidates who had announced a run for president. If a candidate dropped out after a question was published here, their stance is included under the "Show former candidates" option. If they dropped out before a question was first published, the Post did not reach out to get their stance.

Candidate illustrations by Ben Kirchner.

Recent changes on this page

April 8 Sanders and Gabbard dropped out of the presidential race.

March 5 Warren dropped out of the presidential race.

March 4 Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race.

March 2 Klobuchar dropped out of the presidential race.

March 1 Buttigieg dropped out of the presidential race.

March 1 Steyer dropped out of the presidential race.

Feb. 25 Reflected Buttigieg's 2050 goal for net-zero U.S. emissions.

Feb. 12 Patrick dropped out of presidential race.

Feb. 11 Bennet and Yang dropped out of presidential race.

Jan. 31 Adjusted Patrick's stance on fracking after additional input from his campaign.

Jan. 31 Delaney dropped out of presidential race.

Jan. 18 Included Patrick's support for the Green New Deal, stopping the expansion of nuclear energy at this time, a moratorium on fracking, ending fossil fuel extraction on public lands and eliminating fossil fuel subsidies.

Jan. 17 More clearly explained Sanders's stance on a carbon tax. Adjusted question order.

Jan. 13 Booker dropped out of presidential race.

Jan. 10 Williamson dropped out of presidential race.

Jan. 6 Added Bloomberg answers on climate change in survey responses returned by his campaign.

Jan. 2 Castro dropped out of presidential race.

Dec. 19 Patrick's campaign relayed his openness to a carbon pricing mechanism.

Dec. 11 Added Bloomberg and Patrick.

Dec. 3 Harris dropped out of presidential race.

Dec. 2 Bullock dropped out of presidential race.

Dec. 1 Sestak dropped out of presidential race.

Nov. 20 Warren's campaign confirmed that she supports phasing out nuclear power.

Nov. 16 Adjusted Sanders's position on a carbon tax, from 'Open to it' to 'No' following a change from his campaign.

Nov. 1 O'Rourke dropped out of presidential race

Oct. 27 Added responses from Steyer, including his stance of no new nuclear power plants at this time and a ban on all fracking, though “that can’t happen instantly.”

Oct. 24 Ryan dropped out of presidential race.

Oct. 21 Removing Messam, who reported no spending in Q3 of 2019.

Sept. 20 De Blasio dropped out of presidential race.

Sept. 10 Added positions for Steyer based on his climate plan, as well as quotes for several candidates on the fracking ban question.

Sept. 5 Adjusted Biden view on fracking following confirmation of his stance from the campaign.

Sept. 5 Included many stances and quotes from 10 candidates who participated in CNN’s climate town hall event.

Sept. 4 Adjusted Warren's position on fracking after a clarification from her campaign.

Sept. 4 Additional information added from the climate plans of several candidates, including many that include specific U.S. emissions targets. Moved Castro out of 'Unclear' to better characterize his position on fracking.

Sept. 3 Added Klobuchar's position on fossil fuel leasing on federal lands after she released a climate plan.

Aug. 28 Gillibrand dropped out of presidential race.

Aug. 23 Moulton dropped out of presidential race.

Aug. 22 Inslee dropped out of presidential race.

Aug. 19 Updated several positions for Castro based on a response from his campaign.

Aug. 15 Hickenlooper dropped out of presidential race.

Aug. 2 Added Booker quote on the Paris climate agreement, Biden quote on fracking.

July 30 Additional information on Gillibrand's support for a carbon tax. Added Sestak.

July 15 Updated categories on the fracking ban question after addition correspondence with several campaigns to clarify their stances.

July 8 Swalwell dropped out of presidential race.

June 25 Updated Inslee’s position on carbon pricing from “open to it” to “yes” after he released a policy proposal.

June 21 Updated Gabbard’s position on carbon pricing from “open to it” to “no” based on a response from her campaign.

June 21 Added Warren’s position on carbon pricing based on a response from her campaign.

June 20 Updated O’Rourke’s position on fracking from “don’t ban it, but regulate it better” to “ban it” and Hickenlooper’s position on fracking from “don’t ban it” to “don’t ban it, but regulate it better” based on response from the campaigns. Added positions for Hickenlooper and Yang on several issues based on responses from the campaigns.

June 13 Adjusted Hickenlooper's position on carbon pricing after he released his climate plan.

June 5 Adjusted O'Rourke position on the Green New Deal and added his specific U.S. target in the Paris agreement question, following campaign guidance.

June 4 Added Biden positions to several questions after he released his climate plan and his campaign confirmed his stances.

June 3 Moved Gabbard position on campaign carbon footprint and Harris stance on Paris agreement following additional campaign guidance.

June 3 Updated campaign carbon footprint question with additional categories to reflect variety of answers. Also added Harris answers on fossil fuel subsidies and leasing on public lands after her campaign indicated her co-sponsorship of relevant legislation.

June 3 Adjusted Sanders answer on the Paris agreement after clarification from his campaign.

June 3 Updated Bennet’s details on the Green New Deal and fracking based on more information from his campaign.

June 1 Adjusted Buttigieg's position on fracking given additional information from his campaign.

June 1 Adjusted Gabbard’s answers on the Green New Deal and the Paris climate agreement to reflect a clarification from her campaign and a specific pledge.

May 31 Page published.

John Muyskens

John Muyskens is a graphics editor at the Washington Post specializing in data reporting.

Kevin Uhrmacher

Kevin Uhrmacher is a graphics editor for politics at The Washington Post. His work includes mapping trends in election results, analyzing data about President Trump’s political appointees and explaining the impact of congressional policies. He joined The Post in 2014 as a news designer.

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