What the Democrats’ 2024 platform says about climate change

While climate change was not explicitly mentioned in the Republican party platform last month, the Democratic party platform adopted this week in Chicago addresses an issue that has consistently been one of the top concerns for the majority of Americans, an issue that worries a majority of Americans: climate change.

According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 64% of Americans are concerned about global warming — including 62% in Wisconsin, a separate 2022 study found — and more than half believe global warming should be a high priority for the next president and Congress.

Historically, Democrats have viewed climate change as a bigger problem than Republicans – about six in 10 Democrats said the issue would play a very important role in their presidential election, according to a Yale program report released in June, compared with about one in 10 Republicans.

The Republican party platform for 2024 makes no mention of climate change. It advocates lifting restrictions on oil, natural gas and coal and includes the line “We will DRILL, BABY, DRILL.” But some Republicans, especially younger ones, are pushing their party to take up the issue and find solutions to the climate crisis that align with conservative values - a growing discussion that was evident at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

More: Republicans open the door to discussion on climate change. Young conservatives consider this essential.

According to the Democrats’ platform, “there is nothing more important than tackling the climate crisis.”

Although the principles and objectives of each party are set out in its party manifesto, elected party leaders are not obliged to adhere to them.

Here’s what the Democrats’ 2024 platform says about climate change.

Biden and Trump’s climate approach shows sharp contrasts

As expected, there are deep differences in the platform between the stances of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, this year’s Republican presidential candidate, on climate change.

The program was written before Biden dropped out of the presidential race at the end of July and Vice President Kamala Harris joined. It does not contain any climate policy positions specific to Harris. Her campaign team has said it wants to build on Biden’s climate record.

The platform welcomes Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, a comprehensive climate bill that includes hundreds of billions of dollars to help the United States transition to cleaner forms of energy and reduce the greenhouse gases that drive climate change.

During Trump’s presidency, he withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and rolled back more than 125 environmental protections, rolling back government protections that the oil and gas industry saw as a burden. The Washington Post reported in May that Trump told oil industry executives that he would reverse many of Biden’s clean energy and electric vehicle efforts if re-elected.

Clean energy, which is supported by some Republicans, is a priority

The Democratic platform places a strong emphasis on the transition to clean energy, which Democrats say can also lower Americans’ energy costs and create more jobs. The goals include:

At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, renewable energy was a topic of conversation among conservatives who urged the party to focus on climate change. Participants pointed to the economic opportunities that could come from using solar or wind energy.

More: How the Milwaukee RNC could open the door for conservative engagement on climate change

Environmental justice remains a focus

In 2021, the Biden administration launched the Justice40 initiative, which requires that 40% of proceeds from federal climate and clean energy programs go directly to marginalized communities disproportionately affected by pollution.

According to the 2024 election platform, the Democrats want to build on this initiative. The measures mentioned include:

21 billion dollars will be invested to rid the country of environmental pollution caused by legacy waste.
Covering disused oil and gas wells to prevent the material from entering surrounding communities.
Reducing air pollution around ports and airports.
Planting trees is intended to counteract the urban heat island effect, which makes cities warmer because buildings and sidewalks store heat.
We support marginalized communities in transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

More: Many Milwaukee residents live on a heat island, and “air conditioning won’t get us out of it”

Democrats want to promote electric cars and enforce environmental protection laws

Transportation is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, making it a target of Democrats seeking to reduce those emissions and reduce air pollution. The program also mentions standards to reduce other forms of air and water pollution.

To reduce environmental pollution, the platform sets the following priorities:

Electrify school buses, city buses, federal vehicles, ports and waterways, and work toward a goal of 50% of all new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. being electric by 2030.
Double funding to repair and expand public transit.
Modernize sewage systems and replace lead pipes.
Accelerate the cleanup of Superfund and brownfield sites that can release toxic waste into surrounding communities.
Increased monitoring and transparency in the enforcement of environmental laws.

Efforts to adapt infrastructure to extreme weather conditions would continue

Infrastructure like roads, bridges and buildings are at risk as floods, droughts and heat waves become more frequent and severe – and the consequences can be costly. As of August 8, the U.S. has already experienced 19 weather and climate disasters with billions of dollars in damage in 2024, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

More: Advertisement running in Wisconsin gives weather events exacerbated by climate change a new name: “unnatural disasters”

The Democrats’ 2024 election platform sets out the following goals to make communities more resilient to climate threats:

Building roads, bridges and ports that are less vulnerable to climate change.
Laying power lines underground so that they cannot be blown over by the wind.
Improving the reliability of power grids.
Investing in resources such as cooling centers to help communities survive extreme weather events.
We are committed to passing a disaster preparedness tax credit to help low- and moderate-income families and businesses prepare for and recover from weather-related disasters.

Platform aims for better protection of public and commercial areas

Democrats have also sought to highlight differences between Biden’s and Trump’s approaches to protecting land and water across the country, pointing to Trump’s decision to allow drilling, logging and other development on national monument lands and his plans to resume oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Here are the land protection goals outlined in the Democratic program:

Increase protection of the Arctic.
Protect rivers and wetlands.
Designate new marine protected areas to protect the oceans.
Push for full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Reward residents who voluntarily engage in nature conservation on private property.

Madeline Heim is a staff reporter for Report for America covering environmental issues in the Mississippi River basin and Wisconsin. Reach her at 920-996-7266 or [email protected].