Our 2024 Platform the big three

Summary

America’s clean energy industry is ready to build, but outdated government regulations often add years of delays and millions of dollars in extra costs to climate projects. ​Take Vineyard Wind, the largest offshore wind energy project in the U.S. Originally proposed in 2009, it has been delayed by a decade due to red tape.

We can only tackle climate change as quickly as we can build modern, clean energy infrastructure. A state-of-the-art regulatory process will ensure that. By getting unnecessary government regulations out of the way, we will allow America’s entrepreneurs to build cleaner and faster. We can do this while maintaining high environmental standards and protecting our beautiful landscapes.

Policy Pathways

• Update the Environmental Permitting Process: We must reform environmental regulations that are slowing down the construction of clean energy and infrastructure projects. We can do this by placing sensible time limits on the review process to ensure that clean energy projects are approved without unnecessary delays while still maintaining high environmental standards.
• Streamline Approval for Nuclear Energy Projects: The U.S. has one of the most expensive and time-consuming processes to approve new nuclear projects. It’s crucial that we simplify and expedite this process.
• Modernize the Permitting Process for Critical Minerals: The U.S. makes it hard for new mining projects, which are needed for electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and more. Simplifying the patchwork of local, state, and federal regulations for critical mineral mining can ensure we secure our manufacturing future with better environmental safeguards than mining overseas.
• Expand Clean Energy Choices for Consumers: We must expand consumer choice by reforming regulations that unfairly prevent consumers from powering their homes with clean energy.

Take Action

Build Clean Energy Faster

Summary

Our energy should be made in America. From oil and gas to clean energy, we have the resources at home to ensure that our energy supply is secure, affordable, and increasingly clean. Clean technologies, like batteries and solar panels, are built with a variety of mineral resources that must be extracted.

Today, the world relies on China for 90% of these critical minerals. Russia and its allies supply 46% of our nuclear energy fuel. Rather than relying on competitors for the building blocks of the clean energy economy, we should sustainably develop American natural resources while maintaining the highest environmental standards in the world. By unlocking our natural resources, American workers will lead the world’s transition to cleaner energy.

Policy Pathways

• Develop American Critical Minerals: Expand environmentally-friendly, domestic mining to supply our economy’s needs. We must also work with allies to reduce reliance on China and Russia.
• Build Solar Panels in America: Reduce our reliance on China for solar panel manufacturing and support domestic industry through investment, clear regulations, and public-private partnerships.
• Produce Oil & Gas Responsibly: Support America’s domestic oil and gas industry as a key player in producing cheap, abundant energy for all Americans. This can be done by providing regulatory certainty, maintaining fair leasing auctions on federal lands, and encouraging private sector investment.
• Develop American Natural Gas: Increase extraction of cleaner American natural gas to power our economy and ensure energy security at home and abroad.
• Secure Nuclear Fuel Supply Chains: Reduce our reliance on Russia and other countries for our uranium supplies. We must mine more uranium domestically and work with our allies to strengthen supply chains.
• Expand Hydropower & Geothermal Energy: Hydropower and geothermal energy are abundant sources of American clean energy, but we have failed to fully tap into their potential. We can further unlock these alternative sources of clean energy through greater investment and clearer regulations.

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Put American Energy First

Summary

American industry has some of the highest environmental standards and most efficient manufacturing practices in the world. While the U.S. contributes only 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, we have a responsibility to lead the fight against climate change. The United States cannot afford to rely on China and Russia, which are both actively committing human rights abuses and destroying their environments.

By bringing industry home to America, we will build cleaner products and create jobs at the same time. Building electric vehicles and other clean technologies here in the United States will make America the powerhouse of the 21st century economy.

Policy Pathways

• Export Natural Gas: American natural gas is much cleaner than natural gas from Venezuela or Russia and produces far fewer emissions than coal, which is still used by many developing and developed nations. By selling our natural gas to the world, we will lower global emissions and support jobs at home.
• Support Allies on Nuclear Energy: China and Russia are already working to build dozens of nuclear reactors around the world. We must work with our allies to invest in nuclear energy innovation, share R&D, and safely export technology.
• Collaborate on Climate Resilience Research: We must partner with our allies to produce scientific climate resilience research and invest in projects that make global ecosystems and communities more resilient against the impacts of climate change.
• Lower Barriers to Clean Trade: By working with our allies to reduce barriers to trade, we can ensure that clean, American-made technologies are sold around the world.

Take Action

Stand Up to China

Produce in the U.S. Critical Minerals

Summary

We have inherited the most beautiful country on Earth. From the Grand Canyon to the Everglades, our natural landscapes and wildlife define our shared sense of home.

Hunters, farmers, and Indigenous peoples have always served as stewards of the land. Now, they have a vital role to play in fighting climate change. Conserving and restoring natural ecosystems can get us one-third of the way to our climate goals.

Policy Pathways

• Protect Our National Parks: Continue to invest in our public lands and national parks, which sustain wildlife and local economies, in order to preserve our natural heritage for generations to come.
• Plant More Trees: Support public and private initiatives to plant millions of trees in America, which will sequester emissions and provide timber for sustainable building materials.
• Support Our Farmers: Empower local farmers and ranchers to adopt practices that make their production more efficient, our communities more resilient, and reduce emissions. Invest in technologies that enable our farmers to continue feeding America, while protecting the environment.
• Manage Our Forests: Implement responsible forest management practices, including prescribed burns and forest thinning, to reduce the risk of extreme wildfires.
• Support Voluntary Carbon Markets: Make it easier for farmers, ranchers, and other landowners to get paid for adopting conservation and restoration practices which sequester emissions.
• Unleash Blue Carbon: Invest in the conservation and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems that can sequester emissions and enhance climate resilience. Increase investment in scientific research to support these efforts.

Take Action

Support Farmers & Ranchers

Protect Our National Parks

Stand Up for Sportsmen & Wildlife

Summary

All Americans deserve clean air, clean water, and a safe environment. When we protect our environment today, our communities will thrive in the future.

Dangerous air pollution in the United States has decreased by 73% since the 1970s. We have made significant progress, but our work is not done. Now is the time to invest in modern infrastructure, clean technologies, and local resilience to reduce the impacts of climate change. Together, we can build the cleanest and safest country in the world for future generations.

Policy Pathways

• Modernize American Infrastructure: Invest in 21st-century infrastructure that ensures clean water and clean air for all Americans.
• Invest in Nature: Protect and restore ecosystems, which help reduce emissions as well as flooding and other climate impacts on local communities.
• Deploy Adaptation Technologies: Fund research and development of technologies that will help communities identify potential threats to their wellbeing and prepare for extreme weather events.
• Fight Invasive Species: Implement measures to eradicate invasive species, which threaten our native wildlife as well as our food and water supplies.
• Improve Water Resilience: Build modern water storage infrastructure to capture and store more clean water, support urban & rural development, and make American communities less vulnerable to drought.

Take Action

Tell Congress to Secure Our Water

Manage Our Forests & Prevent Wildfire