Dem climate plan would end greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have unveiled a plan to address climate change that would set a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while pushing renewable energy such as wind and solar power and addressing environmental injustice that harms low-income and minority communities.

The plan, put forth Tuesday in a 538-page report, sets a range of targets, including a 45% reduction by 2030 of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. The plan also would require that new cars sold by 2035 emit no greenhouse gases, while heavy-duty trucks would eliminate those emissions by 2040. The plan would eliminate overall emissions from the power sector by 2040 and all but eliminate greenhouse emissions from all economic sectors by 2050.

The plan backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders is less ambitious than a sweeping Green New Deal that a group of progressive Democrats outlined last year to transform the U.S. economy to combat climate change and create thousands of jobs in renewable energy. The Green New Deal, championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., calls for dramatic steps to virtually eliminate U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and sets a goal to meet “100% of the power demand in the United States through clean, renewable and zero-emission energy sources,” including nuclear power.

The new proposal offers a similar sweep but at a slower pace.

Supporters say the plan, presented by Democrats on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, would save more than 60,000 American lives every year by 2050 thanks to reduced air pollution, as well as nearly $8 trillion saved through 2050 thanks to health and climate benefits.

"Democrats know the climate crisis is the essential crisis of our time, threatening public health, jobs and the economy, national security and...