WASHINGTON - Today, Beto O’Rourke announced his plan to tackle climate change should he win the presidency next year, including an important commitment to ban new fossil fuel leasing on public lands starting day one in office. In response, Greenpeace USA Climate Campaigner Charlie Jiang said:

“Beto’s new climate platform is an important contribution to the national effort to boldly tackle the climate crisis. His promises to end fossil fuel leasing on public lands on day one in office, require federal permits to account for the costs of climate change, end fossil fuel tax breaks, and mobilize $1.5 trillion in federal investments to protect workers and communities and cut climate pollution are must-haves in any plan to respond to one of the defining challenges of our time.

“We’re excited to see consensus building among 2020 candidates that stopping fossil fuel expansion — starting with oil, gas, and coal production on public lands — is necessary to protect our most vulnerable communities from climate catastrophe. But this is just the start. We know that fossil fuel executives are already making plans to fight back. That’s why we need serious candidates like Beto to pull out all the stops to confront the power of the fossil fuel industry. That means pledging to reject contributions from fossil fuel executives and lobbyists, end dirty energy exports, and phase out existing fossil fuel production while supporting workers and communities in the transition.”

Note: To maintain independence, Greenpeace USA does not endorse or oppose any political candidate or elected official. We work to hold all candidates for office to the standard that science says is necessary to avert climate crisis, which means supporting a Green New Deal and phasing out fossil fuels.