Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg outlined a plan Friday to slash greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by making electric vehicles accessible to even low-income families and improving access to public transit.
Freddie Joyner has more.
U.S. presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg on Friday unveiled a plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, calling for all new vehicles in the U.S. to be electric by the year 2035.
The billionaire is the first among the Democratic presidential candidates to issue a specific strategy for reducing pollution from transportation - the nation's #1 source of carbon emissions.
His plan involves making electric vehicles more accessible to low-income families with a program called “Clean Cars for All,” which includes rebates for trading in old cars for electric ones.
The plan also calls for improving access to public transit and the building of high-speed rail.
The former mayor of New York City has long fought to curb emissions, serving recently as a special envoy to the United Nations on climate action.
Bloomberg’s goal, if elected in November, is to slash U.S. emissions linked to climate change by 50% by 2030.
Cutting emissions from the power sector and new buildings are the other major planks of his clean economy plan.
He is seeking to reverse the policies of Republican President Donald Trump who has significantly reduced the number of environment regulations while boosting output of fossil fuels during his presidency.
But the billionaire has not yet put a dollar amount on his climate plan due to the complexity of the issues - a glaring difference from most of the other candidates.