DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - Former Texas Congressman and current Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke has announced a climate change plan he says would "confront the existential threat of climate change and invest in our communities."
The plan would include executive action and authorize spending $5 trillion over ten years to "transform our aging infrastructure, accelerate innovation, and empower our people and communities to lead the climate fight."
"The greatest threat we face — which will test our country, our democracy, every single one of us — is climate change. We have one last chance to unleash the ingenuity and political will of hundreds of millions of Americans to meet this moment before it's too late," O'Rourke said in a statement.
O'Rourke announced nine executive orders he would sign. One would reenter the Paris Climate Agreement, which President Trump abandoned in 2017.
Another would strengthen hazardous waste limits for power plants and fuel economy standards. O'Rourke's plan would also stop issuing fossil fuel leases both on and off-shore and set a "net zero" plan for carbon emissions on federal land by 2030.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is also running for the Democratic nomination, has also proposed a moratorium on new oil and gas leases.
O'Rourke's campaign says his plan aligns with goals set in the "Green New Deal" by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
An Emerson College poll released Monday morning shows O'Rourke in a statistical tie with Joe Biden among Democratic primary voters in Texas.
The poll shows Biden leading with 23 percent and O'Rourke second at 22 percent. Bernie Sanders is third at 17 percent. No other candidate had more than ten percent support in Texas.
