AOC-led 'climate unity' taskforce calls on Biden to cut carbon from power sector by 2035 and install half a billion solar panels

The “climate unity” taskforce, led by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Secretary of State John Kerry, published their recommendations for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday.

After two months of meetings, the action plan to tackle the climate crisis included eliminating carbon pollution from power plants by 2035; achieving net-zero emissions for all new buildings by 2030; and vast expansions of solar and wind energy, including installing 500 million solar panels and 60,000 onshore and offshore wind turbines.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who previously backed Senator Bernie Sanders for president and is a leading proponent of the Green New Deal's aggressive climate policies, was selected by former VP Biden to head up the task force alongside Mr Kerry.

"Climate change is a global emergency. We have no time to waste in taking action to protect Americans’ lives and futures", the group wrote at the top of the report.

The task force also called for immediately reversing the Trump Administration’s "dangerous and destructive rollbacks of critical climate and environmental protections".

"The Unity Task Force recommends rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and seeking higher ambition on Day One, putting the United States back in the position of global leadership where we belong," they wrote.

"Fairness and equity" is a central theme, with the taskforce recommending measures to protect vulnerable communities from the impacts of the climate crisis and the production of fossil fuels.

The taskforce recommends creating an environmental justice fund for federal agencies to invest in eliminating "legacy pollution" in minority and low-income communities, and strengthening tribal input in decisions and projects affecting their lands.

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