Bloomberg Vows to Finish Off Coal Plants: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg wants to retire all remaining coal-fired electricity plants in the next decade and 'immediately' stop the construction of new gas facilities to cut U.S. emissions in half by 2030.His campaign said he's still developing a cost estimate for his climate plan as well as figuring out where to find the revenue for it. It's the second policy plan he's rolled out this week without a price tag or a plan to pay for it.The former New York mayor released a climate proposal on Friday near a closed coal-fired power plant in Alexandria, Virginia, where he helped launch a campaign in 2011 to retire almost 300 coal facilities so far. He has committed $500 million for a 'Beyond Carbon' campaign and said President Donald Trump 'refuses to lead on climate change, so the rest of us must.'Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.Bloomberg wants to reach net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century, which is in line with with plans released by front-runner Joe Biden and other leading candidates Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. But it's less aggressive than the 10-year timetable in the $93 trillion 'Green New Deal.' Like other Democratic candidates, Bloomberg seeks to end subsidies for fossil fuels, impose fossil-fuel moratoriums on federal lands, and achieve 100% clean energy 'as soon as humanly possible.'Bloomberg's plan proposes more stringent limits on emissions and pollution to retire the remaining 251 coal plants. He said the regulation would also deter the building of new gas plants, though it's unclear how quickly that could happen. Bloomberg would push Congress to expand solar and wind tax credits and enact new tax incentives for clean-energy technology.COMING UPJoe Biden will travel to San Antonio, Texas, for a community event on Friday afternoon.Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Tom Steyer will participate in a forum organized by 11 public education organizations in Pittsburgh on Saturday.Seven Democratic presidential candidates have so far qualified for the final debate of 2019 in Los Angeles on Dec. 19.(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Niquette in Columbus at mniquette@bloomberg.net;Ari Natter in Washington at anatter5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Kevin WhitelawFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Click here to read full news..