Environment & Agriculture

Repeal the Corn Ethanol Mandate in the Renewable Fuel Standard

Federal law currently requires that a large share of the gasoline supply be blended with corn ethanol — a mandate that drives up corn prices, strains water resources, and provides minimal climate benefit compared to other clean energy investments. This policy repeals that mandate.

Congress must repeal the corn ethanol volume requirements in the Renewable Fuel Standard; ethanol mandates must be replaced with a technology-neutral low-carbon fuel standard that rewards actual lifecycle emissions reductions without preferencing corn-derived fuels. Commodity support payments under ARC and PLC programs must be capped at $125,000 per farming operation annually regardless of corporate structure; payments to farms above 2,000 acres in total operation size must be phased out over 5 years.

Corn ethanol produces lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions comparable to or exceeding gasoline on some analyses. Approximately 40% of the U.S. corn crop is diverted to ethanol production. Corn monoculture is a leading driver of nitrate groundwater contamination in the Midwest.

Rebalance Farm Subsidies Toward Fruits, Vegetables, and Soil Health

The federal government spends tens of billions of dollars subsidizing corn and other commodity crops, while fruits, vegetables, and practices that build healthy soil receive a fraction of that support. Farm subsidies must be rebalanced toward the foods Americans need and the farming practices that sustain the land long-term.

USDA must rebalance commodity support programs to extend price support and crop insurance parity to specialty crops — fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts — currently excluded from most federal commodity programs. A Soil Health Incentive Payment must be established at $35/acre annually for farmers who adopt no-till, cover cropping, or diversified rotation practices verified by NRCS. All new farm bill spending above baseline must prioritize programs directly improving diet quality and soil carbon sequestration.

Prohibition on Tournament-Based Poultry Grower Compensation

Contract poultry farmers are currently ranked against their neighbors to determine pay — a system that makes income unpredictable and gives companies leverage to cut costs at farmers' expense. This policy bans that tournament pay system and requires companies to compensate farmers based on objective, transparent performance standards.

Poultry integrators may not use tournament payment systems — in which grower compensation is determined by comparing each grower's flock performance against neighbors rather than against an objective cost-of-production standard — for the compensation of contract poultry growers. All poultry growing contracts must provide a transparent, objective, cost-of-production-based floor price; integrators that supply inferior chicks, feed, or veterinary inputs may not reduce grower pay on account of the resulting performance shortfall. Growers have a private right of action for compensation withheld in violation of this section.

The USDA GIPSA rule that would have banned tournament systems was withdrawn in 2012 after industry lobbying. Contract poultry growers typically earn $20,000–$30,000 annually while carrying $500,000+ in integrator-mandated facility debt.

Minimum Contract Rights for Contract Poultry Growers

Contract farmers who raise poultry under agreements with large corporations often have little power to negotiate fair terms or challenge unfair treatment. This policy establishes minimum contract rights — including clear payment terms, fair dispute resolution, and protection from retaliation — for all contract poultry growers.

All poultry growing contracts must have a minimum term of 5 years; integrators may not terminate a contract without 180 days written notice and a stated cause reviewable by an independent arbitrator. Growers have the right to form cooperatives and bargaining associations free from integrator retaliation; termination of a grower who participates in a growers' association is presumptively retaliatory and subject to treble damages. Integrators must disclose all input costs charged to growers and the methodology used to calculate any deductions from contract payments.

CFTC Must Establish and Enforce Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Standards

Carbon credits from forests — also called carbon offsets — are sold on voluntary markets where fraud and weak oversight have undermined their value and credibility. The CFTC (the federal commodity markets regulator) must set and enforce integrity standards so that a carbon credit represents real, permanent, independently verified emissions reductions.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission must establish mandatory quality standards for voluntary carbon offset credits sold or traded in U.S. markets; standards must require that all credits represent verified, additional, measurable, and permanent emissions reductions or removals. Third-party verification by accredited independent bodies is required for all credits above 1,000 metric tons CO₂e; self-certified credits are prohibited in regulated financial products. Marketing of carbon offsets that fail to meet these standards constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act; private right of action for purchasers of fraudulent credits.

Multiple investigations have found that voluntary carbon offsets — including prominent forestry programs — routinely overstate climate benefits by 75–90%.

Forestry Offset Permanence Bond and Reversal Protocol

When forests sold as permanent carbon stores burn down or are cut, the emissions reductions those credits claimed no longer exist. This policy requires a permanence bond (a financial reserve held in trust) and a clear protocol for replacing reversed forest carbon credits with verified new ones.

All forestry-based carbon offset credits must be backed by a permanence bond equal to 25% of the credited carbon value, held in escrow by an independent trustee; the bond is forfeited to the government's climate fund if the credited forest is logged, burned, or otherwise destroyed within the credit's claimed durability period. Registries must maintain a buffer pool equivalent to 20% of total issued forestry credits as insurance against reversal events. Credits invalidated by reversal may not be replaced with credits from another project without full re-verification.

Plastic Packaging Producers Must Fund Real Recycling Infrastructure

Plastic producers currently sell packaging without funding the systems needed to collect and recycle it — those costs fall on local governments and taxpayers. Plastic packaging producers must directly fund real recycling infrastructure, not lobby for voluntary pledges that never get built.

All producers of plastic packaging sold in U.S. commerce must join a producer responsibility organization that funds and administers curbside collection, sortation, and end-market recycling of their packaging; the system must achieve verified recycling rates of 50% by 2030 and 75% by 2035. "Verified recycling" means material actually recycled into new products, not incinerated, landfilled, or exported without documented end-use; EPR fees are set by an independent administrator and may not be passed to municipal governments. Producers that fail to meet recycling targets pay into a national Plastic Pollution Remediation Fund.

The actual U.S. recycling rate for plastics is approximately 5–6%. The plastics industry has marketed recycling as a consumer responsibility since the 1980s while knowing most plastics are not economically recyclable.

Phase-Out of Unnecessary Single-Use Plastics by 2028

Electronics, batteries, and hazardous consumer products contain materials that are toxic in landfills and valuable if recovered — but most people have no practical way to dispose of them responsibly. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) — manufacturers funding and operating take-back programs — must apply to all these product categories.

The EPA must establish a schedule for the phase-out of unnecessary single-use plastic products — including polystyrene foodservice ware, plastic cutlery, single-use plastic bags, and plastic straws — in all federally regulated commerce by January 1, 2028. Manufacturers may petition for an exemption based on lack of functional alternatives, subject to independent review; exemptions expire after 3 years and require re-petition. States and localities may impose stricter standards; federal preemption of state plastic reduction laws is prohibited.

Mandatory Apparel Import Supply Chain Disclosure

All apparel and footwear importers selling more than 10,000 units annually in U.S. commerce must publicly disclose the names, addresses, and ownership of all tier-1 and tier-2 manufacturing facilities; disclosure must be updated within 30 days of any supplier change. Facilities must be audited by independent third parties for compliance with ILO core labor standards; audit reports must be publicly accessible. CBP must deny entry to apparel goods produced with forced labor; brand liability attaches when the brand knew or should have known of forced labor in its supply chain.

The fast fashion industry has grown to produce an estimated 100 billion garments annually. An estimated 40–50 million garment workers worldwide — predominantly women — face poverty wages and unsafe conditions.

Fashion Industry Environmental Footprint Disclosure and Accountability

Apparel brands with annual U.S. revenues above $100 million must disclose annually: total garments produced; aggregate water consumption; aggregate carbon emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3); and chemical waste generated by their supply chain. Brands must set and publish science-based reduction targets aligned with a 1.5°C pathway; brands that do not meet disclosed targets face FTC deceptive practice liability if they make environmental claims in marketing. The EPA must establish textile processing wastewater standards applicable to U.S. and imported goods.

No New Federal Permits for Hydraulic Fracturing on Public or Tribal Lands

Public lands and tribal lands belong to all Americans — they must not be used for hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), which risks groundwater contamination and significant methane leakage. No new fracking permits may be issued on public or tribal land.

The Department of the Interior must immediately cease issuing new permits for hydraulic fracturing operations on all federal public lands, federal offshore waters, and tribal trust lands; existing permits may continue to operate under enhanced monitoring requirements but may not be renewed beyond their original term. The BLM must conduct a comprehensive environmental impact statement on the cumulative effects of hydraulic fracturing on water quality, seismic activity, methane emissions, and public health before any moratorium is lifted. No state may preempt local government bans on fracking within municipal boundaries.

Hydraulic fracturing operations have been linked to increased seismic activity in previously stable regions and documented contamination of drinking water aquifers in multiple states.

All Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Formulas Must Be Publicly Disclosed

Fracking companies use hundreds of chemicals under trade secret protections, leaving communities and regulators unable to know what is being injected into the ground near their water supplies. All fracking chemical formulas must be disclosed to the public.

Any operator conducting hydraulic fracturing must disclose to the EPA and to the public — within 30 days of well completion — the complete chemical composition of all fracturing fluids, including trade name, chemical abstract service (CAS) number, maximum concentration, and volume used per well. No trade secret exemption may be invoked to withhold chemical identity from the EPA, state health agencies, or medical providers treating patients in the affected area. The EPA must maintain a publicly searchable national fracking chemical registry updated in real time.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 ("Halliburton loophole") exempted fracking fluids from key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Fracking Operations Must Be Set Back One Mile from Homes, Schools, and Water Sources

Research consistently shows elevated health risks for people living within a half-mile to a mile of active fracking operations — from air pollution, noise, and chemical exposure. Fracking sites must be set back at least one mile from homes, schools, and water sources.

Federal regulations must establish a minimum one-mile setback between any active hydraulic fracturing well and any occupied residence, school, hospital, child care facility, or drinking water source; states may set greater setbacks. Communities within a five-mile radius of a proposed fracking operation must be given notice and a binding community consent vote; a majority vote against the operation prohibits the permit. Environmental justice communities — defined as census tracts in the top quartile for pollution burden — must have a supermajority (60%) community consent requirement.

Fracking Operators Must Post Full-Cost Reclamation Bonds Before Drilling

When fracking companies go bankrupt or walk away, taxpayers often get stuck paying to plug wells and clean up the land. Before any fracking operation begins, operators must post a full financial bond covering the complete cost of well plugging and land reclamation.

Any operator seeking a hydraulic fracturing permit must post a reclamation bond equal to the full estimated cost of plugging all wells, removing all surface equipment, and restoring the land to pre-drilling condition; bond amounts must be set by an independent actuary, not self-reported by the operator. Produced water and fracking wastewater may not be injected into Class II disposal wells located within areas of induced seismicity risk as defined by the USGS; surface disposal is prohibited. Operators with unplugged orphan wells in any state are ineligible for new federal permits.

The U.S. has an estimated 117,000+ documented orphan oil and gas wells, with cleanup costs in the billions.

All Coal-Fired Electricity Generation Must Cease by January 1, 2030

Coal is the dirtiest source of electricity and a leading cause of air pollution, lung disease, and climate change. All coal-fired power plants must shut down by January 1, 2030 — giving utilities time to plan an orderly transition while ensuring the phase-out actually happens.

The EPA must promulgate emission standards under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act that effectively require all coal-fired power plants to retire by January 1, 2030; no new coal-fired power plants may be permitted anywhere in the United States or its territories. The DOE must establish a Just Transition Fund providing: full pension and benefits guarantees for coal workers displaced before retirement age; 5-year wage continuation at 75% of prior earnings; tuition-free job retraining; and priority hiring preferences in federally funded clean energy construction projects in coal-dependent communities.

Coal now provides approximately 16% of U.S. electricity^[3] , down from over 50% in the early 2000s. Coal-fired power plants are the largest industrial source of mercury pollution in the United States.

All Abandoned Coal Mines Must Be Cleaned Up at Industry Expense

Thousands of abandoned coal mines sit contaminated and unrestored across Appalachia and the West, polluting streams and endangering communities for decades. The coal industry — not taxpayers — must fund the full cleanup of every mine it abandoned.

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act must be amended to: require all active coal mining operators to post full-cost reclamation bonds before any mining begins; increase the Abandoned Mine Land Fund fee and direct the proceeds exclusively to cleanup of legacy sites with documented water quality and public health impacts; give EPA enforcement authority over acid mine drainage into navigable waters; and impose strict liability on corporate successors for reclamation obligations of acquired mining operations. No bankruptcy restructuring may discharge active reclamation obligations.

There are an estimated 500,000+ abandoned mine sites in the U.S. , with cleanup costs estimated at $50 billion or more.

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Is Prohibited

Mountaintop removal blasts apart mountains to reach coal seams beneath, permanently destroying Appalachian ecosystems and burying hundreds of miles of streams under waste. This destructive practice is prohibited with no exceptions.

Mountaintop removal coal mining — including valley fills, ridge-top clearing, and the disposal of mine overburden into adjacent stream valleys — is prohibited on all lands. The Army Corps of Engineers may not issue Section 404 permits for valley fills associated with surface coal mining; the EPA must exercise its veto authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act over all pending mountaintop removal permits. Existing mountaintop removal operations must submit a phased shutdown plan within 180 days and must complete all reclamation activities within five years of cessation.

Mountaintop removal has permanently buried more than 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams. Studies link residence near mountaintop removal sites to elevated rates of cancer, birth defects, and cardiovascular disease.

No New Federal Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling Leases May Be Issued

U.S. offshore waters belong to all Americans, not the oil industry. No new offshore oil and gas drilling leases may be issued — ending the expansion of a system that risks oil spills, harms marine ecosystems, and deepens long-term fossil fuel dependence.

The Department of the Interior must permanently withdraw from oil and gas leasing all federal offshore waters, including the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico (beyond current leases), and Arctic Outer Continental Shelf; Congress must codify this withdrawal by statute to prevent reversal by executive action. Existing offshore leases may continue under enhanced safety and environmental monitoring requirements but may not be expanded in acreage. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement must conduct annual independent safety audits of all active offshore platforms; platforms that fail two consecutive audits must cease production.

No New Oil and Gas Drilling Permits on Federal Public and Tribal Lands After 2025

When offshore oil rigs and pipelines reach the end of their useful lives, operators often delay or avoid decommissioning (dismantling and cleanup) indefinitely, leaving aging infrastructure to rust and eventually fail. All offshore infrastructure must be fully removed at the operator's expense within five years of the end of production.

The BLM must cease issuing new oil and gas drilling permits on federal public lands and tribal trust lands after December 31, 2025; existing leases may be developed subject to strict methane monitoring, flaring prohibition, and reclamation bond requirements. The BLM must complete a comprehensive review of all existing idle and non-producing leases and cancel those that have not been developed within their lease terms without extension. Federal lands must be managed for their highest public value, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity, recreation, and watershed protection, not exclusively for resource extraction.

Unlimited Liability for Oil Spills; Mandatory Worst-Case Discharge Planning

When offshore oil spills happen, the current legal caps on how much the responsible company must pay are far too low to cover the true environmental and economic damage. Oil spill liability limits must be doubled and operators must post full environmental restoration bonds before any new drilling begins.

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 cap on liability for oil spills must be eliminated; oil spill responsible parties are subject to unlimited liability for all cleanup costs, natural resource damages, economic losses to affected communities, and long-term health monitoring costs. All offshore operators must submit worst-case discharge response plans based on the actual maximum volume that could be released, not industry-preferred lower estimates; plans must be reviewed and approved by the Coast Guard and EPA every three years. Offshore operators must maintain real-time blowout preventer monitoring data accessible to federal regulators.

The Deepwater Horizon spill released approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. BP's liability was partially capped under existing law, limiting full compensation to affected fishing and tourism industries.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain Is Permanently Closed to Oil Development

Coastal communities, beaches, fisheries, and marine ecosystems within 50 miles of shore are most vulnerable to offshore drilling accidents. Drilling must be prohibited within that distance from any U.S. coastline.

Congress must permanently withdraw the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) coastal plain from oil and gas leasing and permanently prohibit any drilling, seismic exploration, or industrial development within ANWR; this prohibition may only be reversed by a two-thirds vote of both chambers of Congress. All existing ANWR leases, including those issued after the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provision opening the coastal plain, must be cancelled with full refund of lease payments; legal challenges to cancellation must be defended by the DOJ. The Fish and Wildlife Service must develop a comprehensive conservation management plan for ANWR that prioritizes subsistence uses by Indigenous Alaskan communities.

No New Oil Refinery Construction or Capacity Expansion Permits After 2025

Building new oil refineries or expanding existing ones only makes sense if you plan to keep burning oil for decades — the opposite of what the climate requires. No new refinery construction or capacity expansion permits may be issued after 2025.

The EPA must deny all air construction permits (PSD and non-attainment New Source Review) for new petroleum refinery construction or major capacity expansions after December 31, 2025; existing refineries may continue operating under enhanced monitoring requirements but may not increase throughput capacity above current permitted levels. The EPA must update Tier 3 fuel standards to achieve maximum feasible reductions in refinery emissions of sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, benzene, and particulate matter; compliance schedules must not exceed three years. Refinery operators must post financial assurance covering the full cost of decommissioning before any new permit is issued.

All Petroleum Refineries Must Monitor and Publicly Report Fenceline Air Quality in Real Time

Oil refineries are a major source of air pollution, including toxic compounds linked to cancer and respiratory disease in nearby communities. All operating refineries must meet current EPA air quality standards within five years — not just new facilities.

All petroleum refineries must install and maintain continuous fenceline air quality monitors measuring at minimum: benzene, hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide, and VOCs; monitoring data must be transmitted to the EPA in real time and published on a publicly accessible website within one hour of collection. When fenceline benzene concentrations exceed 9 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) as a monthly average , the refinery must investigate and reduce emissions within 45 days or face an automatic permit suspension. Monitoring data may be used in civil litigation by affected community members without further evidentiary foundation.

No New Petrochemical Facilities May Be Sited in Environmental Justice Communities

Refineries that eventually shut down must be fully cleaned up, but cleanup costs are often abandoned to the public when companies fail or walk away. Before expanding capacity, refinery operators must post full decommissioning bonds — deposits held in trust to fund cleanup when the time comes.

The EPA must establish a cumulative impact analysis requirement for all new major source air permits: no permit may be issued for a petroleum refinery, petrochemical plant, or liquefied natural gas facility in a census tract that is already in the top 25% nationally for any single pollution indicator (air toxics, particulate matter, hazardous waste proximity, or water contamination). Existing environmental justice communities with two or more major industrial facilities must be designated as pollution priority zones, with mandatory emission reduction targets of 30% within five years and 50% within ten years. States that fail to implement these standards forfeit EPA air grant funding.

Communities of color are disproportionately sited near refineries and petrochemical facilities — studies show Black Americans are exposed to 56% more air pollution than they generate through consumption.

No New Natural Gas Pipelines, Compressor Stations, or Distribution Infrastructure After 2026

Building new natural gas pipelines, compressor stations, or distribution infrastructure after 2026 locks in decades of additional fossil fuel use and methane leakage. No new gas infrastructure may be built after that date — investment must shift to clean alternatives instead.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may not approve new natural gas pipeline certificates of public convenience and necessity after December 31, 2026; the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration may not permit new interstate natural gas transmission infrastructure; and state public utility commissions may not approve new gas distribution main extensions in areas served by existing electric infrastructure. Projects already under construction with valid permits may be completed. FERC must revise its Certificate Policy Statement to require full lifecycle greenhouse gas accounting, environmental justice analysis, and a demonstration that new gas infrastructure is not redundant to existing capacity or clean alternatives. Willful circumvention of these permit prohibitions by any agency official or regulated entity is subject to criminal penalties including imprisonment; any community or person harmed by unlawfully approved infrastructure has a private right of action for injunctive relief and damages.

The U.S. has over 3 million miles of natural gas pipelines. FERC has approved nearly every gas pipeline application it has received in recent decades.

All Natural Gas Infrastructure Must Detect and Repair Methane Leaks Within 30 Days

The pipes delivering gas to homes and apartments across the country leak methane — a potent greenhouse gas — and expose residents to indoor air pollution. All residential gas distribution lines must be replaced or shut down by 2040 as homes transition to electric heating and appliances.

The EPA must promulgate regulations requiring all natural gas production, processing, transmission, and distribution operators to: conduct quarterly leak detection surveys using optical gas imaging or equivalent technology; repair all detected leaks within 30 days of detection or immediately shut in the leaking equipment; report all detected leaks to the EPA within 48 hours; and achieve a system-wide methane loss rate of no more than 0.2% of throughput by 2028. Routine flaring and venting of methane at production sites is prohibited except for verified safety emergencies; operators that exceed the 0.2% threshold must fund verified offset projects at a 3:1 ratio while achieving compliance. Knowing and willful violations of leak detection, repair, or reporting requirements are subject to criminal penalties; affected communities and environmental organizations have a private right of action to enforce these standards where the EPA fails to act within 90 days of a verified complaint.

Methane is approximately 80 times more potent than CO₂ as a greenhouse gas over a 20-year period. The natural gas system leaks an estimated 2.3% of production according to some studies.

No New Liquefied Natural Gas Export Terminal Permits Until Climate Impact Review Is Complete

Starting in 2027, all newly constructed buildings must be designed without natural gas connections. Building gas-free from the start is far cheaper and less disruptive than retrofitting later, and it sets a clear path toward eliminating fossil fuel combustion from the built environment.

The Department of Energy must impose a moratorium on approvals of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal permits and expansions of existing LNG terminals until: the DOE completes a comprehensive assessment of the full lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of U.S. LNG exports including upstream methane leakage; FERC revises its environmental review process to include downstream combustion emissions; and Congress passes legislation setting a binding cap on total U.S. LNG export capacity consistent with U.S. climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. Existing operational LNG export terminals may continue under enhanced methane monitoring requirements. Any DOE official who approves LNG permits in violation of this moratorium is subject to criminal penalties; any person or community harmed by unlawfully approved LNG terminal construction or operation has a private right of action for injunctive relief and compensatory damages.

The Biden administration paused new LNG export approvals in January 2024 for a climate review. The U.S. became the world's largest LNG exporter in 2023.

New Building Construction May Not Install Natural Gas Appliances After 2027

New buildings starting in 2027 must use all-electric systems for heating, cooking, and hot water. Electric appliances powered by a clean grid produce zero in-home air pollution — gas appliances cannot match that, no matter how efficient they become.

The Department of Energy must set appliance efficiency standards that effectively require all newly manufactured residential and commercial furnaces, water heaters, stoves, and dryers to be electric-ready or all-electric by January 1, 2027; no new building construction permit may require natural gas service connections after that date. Existing buildings must transition to electric appliances upon major renovation or appliance replacement; the DOE must fund a low-income household electrification rebate program of up to $14,000 per household for heat pump installation, electric water heater replacement, and electric panel upgrades. Landlords may not pass appliance electrification costs to tenants. Manufacturers that knowingly certify non-compliant appliances as compliant are subject to criminal penalties for willful violations; tenants harmed by landlords who illegally shift electrification costs have a private right of action for treble damages and attorney fees.

Gas stoves emit nitrogen dioxide, benzene, and other pollutants at levels that can exceed EPA outdoor air quality standards indoors. Buildings account for approximately 13% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

All Natural Gas Distribution Utilities Must File Binding Decarbonization Plans

Gas utilities must publish clear, public timelines for transitioning their customers to electric alternatives — not keep extending gas service indefinitely. Transparency about the transition lets households and landlords plan ahead.

All regulated natural gas distribution utilities must file with their state public utility commission a binding decarbonization plan by January 1, 2026, showing how the utility will achieve a 50% reduction in throughput by 2035 and 100% reduction by 2045; plans must include: managed transition of existing customers to electric alternatives; no cost-shifting of stranded gas infrastructure costs onto remaining ratepayers; workforce transition plans for gas utility workers; and timeline for retirement of distribution mains. State commissions must approve, reject, or modify plans within 18 months. Utilities that fail to file plans are ineligible for rate increases. Utilities that file false or materially misleading decarbonization plans are subject to criminal referral for fraud; ratepayers and environmental organizations have a private right of action to enforce plan compliance and to recover stranded cost shifts imposed in violation of this section.

All Federal Buildings Must Eliminate Natural Gas Use by 2030

No household may have its gas service shut off before an affordable, functioning electric alternative is available and accessible to that household. Protecting people from losing heat and cooking access during the transition is a basic obligation of the policy.

The General Services Administration must develop and execute a plan to eliminate natural gas use in all federal buildings by December 31, 2030, transitioning to electric heating, cooling, and cooking; the plan must prioritize buildings in environmental justice communities and buildings with the highest energy use intensity. New federal building construction after January 1, 2025, must be all-electric; no new natural gas service connections may be installed in any federal building. The GSA must publish annual progress reports on electrification; the federal government's electrification must serve as a model and demand signal for the broader building electrification market. GSA officials who authorize new natural gas connections in violation of this section are subject to criminal penalties; citizens and affected communities have a private right of action to enforce this section's prohibition against new gas connections in federal buildings.

The Federal Government Must Fund Voluntary Buyouts for Communities in High-Risk Flood and Climate Hazard Zones

Some neighborhoods face repeated, catastrophic flooding that no amount of rebuilding can fix, and climate change is making it worse. The federal government must fund voluntary buyout programs so families in the highest-risk flood and climate hazard zones can relocate to safer ground before the next disaster.

Congress must establish and fully fund a federal Managed Retreat and Community Resilience Program that: provides voluntary, fair-market buyouts for homeowners and renters in communities facing repeated flooding, sea level rise, or catastrophic wildfire risk; prioritizes low-income communities and communities of color, which are disproportionately located in high-risk zones due to historical redlining and discriminatory zoning; funds community relocation as a whole — not piecemeal abandonment — including infrastructure, community centers, and public services; and guarantees replacement housing of equivalent quality in lower-risk areas at no net cost to relocated residents. Buyout offers must be based on pre-disaster fair market value, not post-disaster depressed values. Participation is voluntary; no community may be forced to relocate. The program must be funded at no less than $10 billion per year. Federal officials who condition buyout offers on community agreement to waive future federal disaster assistance are subject to criminal penalties; any homeowner or renter who is denied a lawful buyout, offered below-fair-market compensation, or subjected to retaliatory withdrawal of a buyout offer has a private right of action for injunctive relief and compensatory damages.

Flooding is the most costly and frequent natural disaster in the United States. Communities of color are disproportionately located in flood-prone areas due to decades of racially discriminatory housing and land use policy. The FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program has been chronically underfunded and difficult to access for low-income communities.

FEMA Must Fund Climate-Resilient Rebuilding, Not Reconstruction of Flood-Prone Structures

After floods, FEMA often funds rebuilding the same structures in the same flood-prone spots, guaranteeing future losses. This policy redirects disaster recovery funds toward stronger, climate-resilient construction rather than repeating the same cycle of damage and reconstruction.

The FEMA "50% rule" — which requires structures damaged more than 50% of their value to be brought into full compliance with current floodplain management standards — must be reformed to: apply to all federally insured and FEMA-assisted structures after any damage event, not just those exceeding the 50% threshold; fund resilient rebuilding to higher standards as the default, not reconstruction in kind; and prohibit federal flood insurance and federal disaster assistance for repeated flood losses on the same property unless the owner is in an active buyout or relocation process. FEMA must prioritize climate-resilient infrastructure investments — including green infrastructure, elevated structures, and natural floodplain restoration — over hard armoring. The National Flood Insurance Program must be reformed to reflect actuarial risk; premiums for high-risk, high-value properties must not be subsidized at the expense of the general fund. FEMA officials who approve reconstruction assistance for properties in active violation of this section's repeated-loss prohibition are subject to criminal penalties; any community or property owner whose resilient-rebuilding application is improperly denied has a private right of action for injunctive relief and recovery of wrongfully withheld funds.

Federal disaster assistance and flood insurance have subsidized repeated rebuilding in flood-prone areas, creating a "moral hazard" that accelerates climate exposure. Some properties have flooded and received federal assistance more than five times.

The Federal Government Must Support Americans Displaced by Climate Disasters and Chronic Climate Stress

Wildfires, hurricanes, rising seas, and extreme heat are forcing people from their homes — sometimes permanently. The federal government must provide real support — housing assistance, job training, and relocation help — for Americans displaced by climate conditions, whether from a single disaster or the slow creep of chronic climate stress.

Congress must establish a Domestic Climate Displacement Assistance Program that: provides relocation grants, housing assistance, and job transition support to individuals and families who are displaced by climate disasters or whose communities face chronic uninhabitability due to climate change; guarantees that climate-displaced people do not lose access to Social Security, Medicaid, SNAP, or other federal benefits during relocation; funds workforce retraining for workers in fossil fuel and climate-vulnerable industries; and establishes a Climate Displacement Registry to track chronic climate displacement and ensure affected communities receive proportional federal assistance. International climate refugees — individuals displaced by climate change in their home countries — must receive dedicated visa pathways and must be recognized as a protected class under U.S. immigration and refugee law. Federal officials who deny or delay climate displacement benefits in bad faith, or who condition benefits on waiver of future legal claims, are subject to criminal penalties; any displaced person who is unlawfully denied benefits or loses federal benefit continuity during relocation has a private right of action for injunctive relief, benefit restoration, and damages.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been displaced by climate disasters in recent years. Some U.S. communities — including several in Alaska and Louisiana — are already uninhabitable due to sea level rise and erosion.

All Federally Funded Infrastructure Projects Must Meet Climate Resilience Standards

Bridges, roads, water systems, and other infrastructure built with federal dollars must be designed to last in a changing climate. All federally funded projects must meet resilience standards that account for future flooding, extreme heat, and storms — not just the weather conditions of the past.

All federally funded infrastructure projects — including roads, bridges, water systems, public buildings, and transit — must be designed and built to withstand projected climate conditions over their design lifetime, using NOAA and IPCC climate projections; projects that fail to meet resilience standards may not receive federal funding. Federal infrastructure investment must prioritize green infrastructure solutions — including urban tree canopy, permeable surfaces, living shorelines, restored wetlands, and urban parks — alongside or instead of hard armoring wherever effective; green infrastructure must receive no less than 20% of federal stormwater and flood mitigation funding. The Army Corps of Engineers must integrate climate resilience and nature-based solutions into all project planning and must update its cost-benefit analysis methodology to account for long-term climate costs and ecosystem services. Federal officials who certify resilience compliance for projects that knowingly fail NOAA or IPCC standard thresholds are subject to criminal penalties for false certification; any community harmed by a federally funded infrastructure failure attributable to non-compliance with the resilience standards established by this section has a private right of action against the certifying agency for damages and injunctive relief.

The United States Must Immediately End Over $20 Billion in Annual Federal Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Redirect All Savings to Clean Energy and Worker Transition

The federal government currently gives over $20 billion per year in tax breaks and royalty relief to oil, gas, and coal companies — money that should be driving the clean energy transition. All fossil fuel subsidies must end immediately, and the savings must be redirected to clean energy and worker support.

Congress must repeal all federal tax preferences, direct subsidies, and below-market royalty arrangements that benefit fossil fuel extraction, production, refining, and distribution, including: (1) the intangible drilling costs deduction (26 U.S.C. § 263(c)), the percentage depletion allowance (26 U.S.C. § 613), the domestic manufacturing deduction for oil and gas producers, and all accelerated depreciation schedules for fossil fuel equipment; (2) all below-market federal land and offshore lease royalty rates — federal royalties must equal the fair market value of resources extracted, with the Department of Interior required to update royalty rates annually to market benchmarks; (3) all Export-Import Bank and Development Finance Corporation financing for overseas fossil fuel projects; and (4) any federal loan guarantee or credit support for new fossil fuel infrastructure. All revenues recovered must be deposited into a Just Transition Fund to support displaced workers and communities. No new fossil fuel subsidies may be enacted without a supermajority in Congress and a public cost-benefit analysis showing net climate and social benefit.

Federal fossil fuel subsidies total an estimated $20 billion or more annually in direct tax expenditures alone, with additional implicit subsidies through underpriced public land leases and failure to price carbon externalities. The IMF estimates total fossil fuel subsidies — including unpriced externalities — exceed $660 billion annually in the U.S. alone.

Hydraulic Fracturing Must Be Banned on All Federal Lands Immediately and Phased Out Nationally With Binding Environmental Justice Standards

Hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") on federal lands must end now, and a national phase-out of fracking must proceed under binding environmental justice standards that protect communities — often low-income and communities of color — most burdened by its health and environmental impacts.

The federal government must: (1) immediately ban all new hydraulic fracturing permits on federal lands and waters, and decline to renew any existing fracking permits on federal lands upon expiration; (2) require the EPA to finalize national methane emissions standards for all existing fracking operations that achieve at least a 65% reduction in methane leakage within three years; (3) direct the EPA to establish a National Fracking Phase-Out Plan that ends all fracking operations by 2035, prioritizing phase-out first in environmental justice communities — defined as communities of color, low-income communities, or communities with existing elevated pollution burdens within 1 mile of active fracking wells; (4) require all fracking operators to fully disclose all chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluid to the EPA and to affected communities, with no trade secret exemption; (5) establish a federal Fracking Community Remediation Fund to remediate contaminated water supplies, restore damaged land, and compensate property owners harmed by fracking operations, financed by a per-well fee on all existing and future operations; and (6) impose criminal liability on operators who contaminate drinking water supplies. Any person or community whose water supply is contaminated by fracking operations, or who suffers property damage attributable to induced seismicity from fracking, has a private right of action for injunctive relief, remediation costs, and compensatory damages.

Fracking operations have been linked to groundwater contamination, increased seismic activity, and elevated methane emissions — a potent greenhouse gas. An estimated 17 million Americans live within one mile of an active oil or gas well, with disproportionate concentration in communities of color.

All Coal-Fired Power Plants Must Be Retired by 2030 With a Federally Funded Just Transition for Workers and Communities

All coal-fired power plants must close by 2030, and every affected worker and community must receive federally funded support — including income replacement, retraining, and community economic development funding. The coal phase-out must be planned and supported, not abrupt and abandoned.

Congress must enact a Coal Phase-Out Act that: (1) prohibits the issuance of any new coal mining permits on federal lands and directs the Department of Interior to decline renewal of all existing federal coal leases upon expiration; (2) prohibits any new coal-fired electricity generating capacity from being permitted or constructed anywhere in the United States; (3) establishes a mandatory coal plant retirement schedule — all coal plants must cease operation by December 31, 2030 — with the EPA authorized to close non-compliant plants and recover costs from operators; (4) establishes a $100 billion Coal Community Just Transition Fund providing: (a) five years of full wage replacement and benefits continuation for all displaced coal workers; (b) retraining and job placement in clean energy sectors prioritized in affected communities; (c) economic diversification grants to coal-dependent municipalities; and (d) full remediation of all coal ash impoundments and abandoned mine lands at federal expense; and (5) requires all coal operators to contribute to the Just Transition Fund at a rate of $5 per ton of coal mined in the five years before retirement. Coal company executives who knowingly continue operating coal plants past the mandatory retirement date are subject to criminal penalties; any worker who is denied just transition benefits, or any community that fails to receive economic diversification funding it is entitled to, has a private right of action for benefit recovery and injunctive relief.

U.S. coal-fired power generation has declined dramatically but still accounts for approximately 16% of electricity generation. Coal mining and power plant communities face severe economic distress with few alternative economic anchors. Coal ash impoundments contain toxic heavy metals and have been the source of catastrophic spills.

No New Oil and Gas Drilling Leases May Be Issued on Federal Lands or Offshore Waters, and All Existing Federal Leases Must Be Retired by 2035

No new oil and gas drilling leases may be issued on federal lands or in offshore waters, and all existing federal leases must be retired by 2035. Public land must not be committed to decades of additional fossil fuel extraction when the world urgently needs to decarbonize.

The federal government must: (1) immediately declare a permanent moratorium on all new oil and gas leasing on federal onshore lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and on the Outer Continental Shelf; (2) decline to renew any existing federal oil and gas lease upon expiration and prohibit lease extensions beyond the primary term; (3) establish a Federal Lease Wind-Down Program that: (a) offers voluntary buyouts at fair market value to operators with existing federal leases who agree to permanently surrender them; (b) requires all federal lease operators to fully restore well sites and remediate land at their expense upon lease expiration; and (c) prohibits transfer or assignment of expiring federal leases to new operators; (4) ban all new oil and gas drilling within 25 miles of any coastline, national park, wilderness area, or source watershed; and (5) prohibit the export of crude oil produced from federal lands or offshore leases. Criminal penalties apply to any operator who drills without a valid lease or fails to remediate a federal well site. Any community or property owner harmed by unremediated federal well sites, or by drilling within a protected buffer zone, has a private right of action for injunctive relief, remediation costs, and compensatory damages.

The federal government manages approximately 700 million acres of onshore mineral rights and vast offshore acreage — production from these lands accounts for approximately a quarter of U.S. oil and gas output. The Inflation Reduction Act (2022) required new offshore leasing as a condition of clean energy provisions, a compromise widely criticized by climate advocates.

The General Mining Act of 1872 Must Be Replaced — Mining Companies Must Pay Market-Rate Royalties and Post Full Remediation Bonds

The General Mining Act of 1872 — older than the lightbulb — allows mining companies to extract gold, silver, and other hardrock minerals from federal public land without paying royalties to the American people and often without posting adequate cleanup bonds. Mining companies must pay fair market-rate royalties and deposit full reclamation bonds before any permit is granted.

Congress must repeal the General Mining Act of 1872 and replace it with a framework that: (1) imposes a royalty of 12.5% of gross revenues on all hard rock mineral extraction from federal lands — the same rate applied to oil and gas — replacing the current $0 royalty; (2) requires all mining permit applicants to post a full-cost remediation bond sufficient to cover 100% of estimated cleanup costs before any extraction begins, determined by an independent third-party environmental engineer; (3) prohibits the issuance of new federal mining patents that allow mining companies to purchase federal land at $5 per acre — the 1872 price — ending this permanent giveaway; (4) directs the EPA and Department of Interior to establish a National Abandoned Mine Remediation Fund financed by the new royalties to clean up an estimated 500,000 abandoned hardrock mine sites nationwide; (5) requires all federal mining permit applications to undergo a full National Environmental Policy Act review including cumulative impacts analysis; and (6) imposes criminal liability on any mining operator who abandons a mine site without remediation, with the company's directors and officers personally liable for cleanup costs.

The 1872 Mining Law allows mining companies to extract gold, silver, copper, and other hard rock minerals from federal land without paying any royalty — a giveaway estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually. An estimated 500,000 abandoned hard rock mine sites contaminate watersheds across the American West.

PFAS Forever Chemicals Must Be Regulated at the Strictest Safe Level, Phased Out of All Non-Essential Uses, and Manufacturers Must Fund Cleanup

PFAS are synthetic "forever chemicals" — found in thousands of products — that accumulate in human bodies and have been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, and immune system damage. This policy sets the strictest safe limits for PFAS, phases them out of non-essential uses, and requires the companies that profited from them to fund the cleanup.

Congress and the EPA must: (1) finalize and defend EPA's maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water and establish MCLs for all other PFAS compounds within two years; (2) designate all PFAS compounds as hazardous substances under CERCLA (Superfund), making manufacturers and users liable for contaminated site cleanup costs; (3) enact a phase-out of all PFAS in non-essential uses — including food packaging, cookware coatings, carpeting, and cosmetics — by 2028, with "essential use" defined narrowly and subject to a public petition process; (4) require all manufacturers and users of PFAS to publicly disclose annual PFAS use by compound and quantity to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory; (5) establish a federal PFAS Remediation Fund of $10 billion, financed by a fee on PFAS manufacturers proportional to historical production, to provide safe water to the estimated 200 million Americans with PFAS in their drinking water; and (6) provide a private right of action for any individual harmed by PFAS contamination, with a 20-year statute of limitations and joint and several liability for all manufacturers.

PFAS chemicals are found in the blood of approximately 99% of Americans. PFAS have been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, immune system disruption, and reproductive harm. 3M and DuPont/Chemours knew for decades that PFAS chemicals were accumulating in human blood and concealed this information.

Natural Gas Is Not a Climate Solution — No New LNG Export Terminals May Be Built and Methane Must Be Regulated as a Climate Pollutant Under the Clean Air Act

Natural gas is primarily methane — a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide over the short term. No new facilities to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) may be built, and methane leaking from gas operations must be regulated and sharply reduced under the Clean Air Act.

The federal government must: (1) impose a moratorium on all new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal permits — the Department of Energy may not issue any new authorizations for LNG export to non-free-trade-agreement countries, and FERC may not approve any new LNG terminal construction; (2) direct the EPA to formally designate methane as a pollutant that endangers public welfare under Section 202 of the Clean Air Act, triggering mandatory emissions standards for all sectors; (3) require the EPA to finalize methane regulations achieving at least a 75% reduction in methane emissions from the oil and gas sector — from drilling through distribution — within five years; (4) prohibit all routine flaring and venting of natural gas from any facility receiving a federal permit or operating on federal land, with criminal penalties for willful violations; (5) require all natural gas utilities to develop binding net-zero transition plans that eliminate residential gas hookups by 2035 in new construction; and (6) end all federal financing for natural gas infrastructure through the Export-Import Bank and Development Finance Corporation.

Methane is approximately 80 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO₂ over a 20-year period. The fossil fuel industry's promotion of natural gas as a "bridge fuel" has been widely criticized by climate scientists as a strategy to delay renewable energy transition.

No New Industrial Pollution Permits May Be Issued in Already-Overburdened Communities and All Permitting Must Use a Cumulative Impact Standard

Some communities are surrounded by factories, refineries, and other industrial facilities and already bear far more pollution than the rest of the country. No new industrial permits may be issued in these overburdened communities, and all permitting must weigh the cumulative (total, combined) pollution burden — not just one new facility in isolation.

The EPA must: (1) establish a binding cumulative impact standard for all Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act permits — permit decisions must consider the total existing pollution burden in the affected community, not just the incremental impact of the new facility; (2) impose an immediate moratorium on all new industrial facility permits in any census tract identified by EPA's EJScreen tool as in the 80th percentile or above for environmental burden, until existing facilities come into compliance with all applicable standards; (3) require all federal agencies to conduct environmental justice analyses for any major federal action — defined as any action affecting communities with populations above 40% people of color or 40% low-income — using cumulative impact methodology; (4) establish an Office of Environmental Justice within the EPA with independent enforcement authority and a dedicated budget of $2 billion annually; (5) require all state environmental agencies receiving EPA delegated authority to adopt equivalent cumulative impact standards or have their delegated authority revoked; and (6) provide a private right of action under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act for communities that can demonstrate discriminatory environmental permitting.

People of color are 28% more likely to live near a hazardous waste facility than white Americans. The EPA's own EJScreen tool identifies thousands of communities simultaneously burdened by multiple pollution sources, but this data has historically not been used in permit decisions.

The Exploitative Poultry Tournament System Must Be Banned and the Packers and Stockyards Act Must Be Enforced to Protect Contract Farmers

Poultry companies rank contract farmers against each other to determine their pay — a rigged system that keeps farmers in debt regardless of how well they perform. This policy bans that "tournament" pay system and requires enforcement of existing federal protections for contract farmers who raise chickens and livestock for large companies.

Congress must: (1) ban the "tournament system" in poultry production — the practice of ranking growers against each other and adjusting pay based on relative performance rather than absolute production costs — which transfers financial risk entirely to contract growers while giving integrators complete control over inputs, genetics, and feed quality; (2) require all poultry and livestock production contracts to guarantee a minimum base payment that covers the grower's actual cost of production plus a reasonable profit, independent of tournament rankings; (3) strengthen enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act by: (a) restoring the USDA rule that a competitive injury need not be proven to establish a violation; (b) requiring all production contracts to be in writing with a minimum 5-year term and automatic renewal unless the integrator can demonstrate legitimate cause for non-renewal; (c) prohibiting integrators from requiring growers to make capital improvements as a condition of contract renewal; (4) provide growers a private right of action to sue integrators for violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act, including breach of contract and retaliatory non-renewal, with treble damages and attorney's fees; and (5) impose criminal penalties on integrators who falsify flock performance data used in tournament calculations.

Contract poultry growers invest an average of $1 million or more in facilities owned on their land but controlled by integrators, often ending up indebted and unable to exit contracts. Companies like Tyson, Perdue, and Koch Foods control over 90% of the U.S. poultry market.

Agricultural Workers Must Have Full Labor Rights Including the Right to Organize, Safe Working Conditions, and Protection From Visa Exploitation

Farmworkers grow the food we eat, but many lack the basic rights most workers take for granted — like the ability to form a union, work in safe conditions, or challenge exploitation under farm worker visa programs. This policy guarantees agricultural workers the same full labor protections that apply to workers in every other sector.

Congress must: (1) amend the National Labor Relations Act to remove the agricultural worker exemption, extending full NLRA coverage — including the right to organize, collectively bargain, and strike — to all farmworkers, including those employed by family farms with more than five employees; (2) reform the H-2A agricultural guestworker visa program by: (a) prohibiting employers from charging workers recruitment fees or transportation costs; (b) requiring all H-2A workers to be provided with written contracts in their native language before departing their home country; (c) allowing H-2A workers to change employers without losing status; (d) establishing a federal hotline and legal services program for H-2A workers to report abuse; (3) require OSHA to enforce heat illness prevention standards for all outdoor agricultural workers, with the same 80°F/90°F trigger requirements as other outdoor industries; (4) require the EPA to establish a federal Agricultural Worker Protection Standard that mandates pesticide application buffer zones, mandatory notification to workers of pesticide use, and annual medical monitoring for workers regularly exposed to organophosphate pesticides; and (5) provide farmworkers a private right of action for retaliation, wage theft, and unsafe working conditions with a 5-year statute of limitations.

The NLRA explicitly excludes agricultural workers — a legacy of New Deal compromises designed to exclude Black Southern workers. Farmworkers experience among the highest rates of pesticide exposure and heat illness of any U.S. occupation.

Federal Corn and Commodity Subsidies Must Be Decoupled From Production Volume and Redirected to Soil Health, Diversification, and Climate Resilience

Federal farm subsidies currently pay more to farmers who grow more corn and other commodity crops — rewarding volume over everything else, including soil health. This policy redirects those payments toward farmers who build healthy soil, diversify their crops, and farm in ways that hold up against drought, flooding, and other climate pressures.

Congress must reform federal commodity support programs by: (1) eliminating all direct payments, price loss coverage, and agricultural risk coverage payments that are calculated based on planted acreage or production volume for corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat — which incentivize monoculture and overproduction; (2) redirecting all commodity support savings into: (a) a $10 billion/year Soil Health and Conservation Program that pays farmers per acre for adopting cover cropping, no-till farming, crop rotation, and riparian buffer practices; (b) a Beginning Farmer Support Fund providing grants and low-interest loans for farmers transitioning to diversified production; (c) a Local and Regional Food Systems Fund supporting farmers markets, food hubs, and institutional purchasing of locally grown food; (3) prohibiting any corn ethanol mandate from exceeding 10% of the Renewable Fuel Standard — redirecting ethanol mandates to genuinely advanced cellulosic biofuels; (4) capping any remaining commodity support payments at $50,000 per farm per year, eliminating the majority of subsidies that flow to large agribusinesses; and (5) requiring all farms receiving federal conservation payments to develop and comply with a nutrient management plan.

Federal corn subsidies have contributed to overproduction of corn, driving down prices and flooding markets with high-fructose corn syrup and subsidized ethanol. The largest 10% of farm operations receive approximately 75% of all commodity subsidy payments.^[9]

Every American Must Have Access to Fresh, Affordable, Healthy Food Within a Reasonable Distance of Their Home

Millions of Americans — especially in rural areas and low-income neighborhoods — live in "food deserts" where there is no nearby store selling fresh, healthy food. The federal government must act to ensure every person has access to nutritious food within a reasonable distance of their home.

Congress must: (1) establish a $5 billion Healthy Food Financing Initiative providing grants and loans to full-service grocery stores that open or expand in food deserts — defined as low-income census tracts more than 1 mile from a supermarket in urban areas or 10 miles in rural areas; (2) condition federal Community Development Block Grant funding on states and localities enacting zoning policies that: (a) limit the density of dollar stores, fast food restaurants, and liquor stores in food deserts; (b) require any new dollar store or discount retailer above 5,000 square feet in a food desert to stock a minimum percentage of fresh produce and refrigerated food; (3) expand SNAP incentives — doubling SNAP benefits for purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables through the Double Up Food Bucks model, funded at $1 billion annually; (4) require all USDA-regulated school nutrition programs to source at least 30% of food from local and regional farms within 250 miles of the school; and (5) establish a federal Food Environment Equity Index that publicly tracks healthy food access by census tract, updated annually, with mandatory remediation plans for persistent food deserts.

An estimated 23.5 million Americans live in food deserts with limited access to fresh, affordable food. Dollar stores have been documented to deliberately open near or drive out full-service grocery stores in low-income communities.

Every Worker Employed in Coal Mining, Oil and Gas Extraction, Petroleum Refining, or Coal-Fired Power Generation Whose Job Is Eliminated Due to Clean Energy Transition Must Receive 5 Years of Full Wage Replacement, Lifetime Healthcare, and Full Pension Vesting

Congress must establish a Federal Just Transition Program — requiring: (1) wage replacement — any worker displaced from covered fossil fuel employment due to facility closure, production reduction, or any federal clean energy policy shall receive: (a) 100% of pre-displacement wages for 3 years; (b) 75% of pre-displacement wages for years 4–5; (c) job training and placement services through the Department of Labor for the full 5-year period; (2) healthcare continuation — displaced workers and their dependents shall receive: (a) continuation of any employer-provided healthcare coverage at no cost to the worker for 5 years; (b) enrollment in a federal healthcare bridge program equivalent to Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage if no employer plan exists; (3) pension security — any defined benefit pension or multiemployer pension plan covering displaced workers shall be: (a) fully vested upon displacement, regardless of years of service; (b) eligible for federal benefit guarantee if the plan is underfunded due to employer insolvency; (c) supplemented by the federal government to ensure no worker receives less than 80% of the benefit they would have earned at full retirement; (4) community transition funds — every county that loses more than 500 fossil fuel jobs within any 3-year period shall receive an economic transition grant of: (a) $50,000 per displaced worker for community economic development; (b) priority access to federal infrastructure contracts; (c) federal tax incentives for clean energy manufacturing investment in the county for 15 years; (5) administered by a newly created Office of Just Transition within the Department of Labor, with criminal penalties for any contractor or employer who falsifies displacement claims or misappropriates transition funds.

Approximately 900,000 Americans are employed in fossil fuel extraction, refining, and coal-fired power generation. Coal-producing communities have historically faced devastating economic collapse when mines close without adequate transition support.

Clean Energy Developers Receiving Federal Incentives Must Prioritize Hiring From Fossil Fuel Communities and Contribute to Community Reinvestment Funds — And Fossil Fuel Companies Must Fund Remediation of All Abandoned Wells, Mines, and Contaminated Sites Before Receiving Any New Permits

Congress must: (1) require all clean energy projects receiving federal tax credits, grants, or loan guarantees to: (a) give hiring preference to workers with prior employment in fossil fuel industries; (b) pay prevailing wage on all construction and operations; (c) contribute 2% of project revenue for the first 15 years to a Community Reinvestment Fund for the county where the project is located; (2) establish a Fossil Fuel Cleanup Liability Fund — requiring all oil and gas companies with more than $100 million in annual revenue to contribute 0.5% of gross revenue annually until: (a) all orphaned wells on federal land are plugged and remediated; (b) all abandoned coal mines in their operational history are fully reclaimed; (c) all Superfund sites associated with their operations are fully remediated; (3) prohibit any oil, gas, or coal company from receiving a new extraction permit on federal land if the company has any outstanding well-plugging, mine reclamation, or Superfund remediation obligations more than 3 years past due; (4) require the Bureau of Land Management and the EPA to jointly publish an annual National Fossil Fuel Liability Register — listing all companies with outstanding remediation obligations and their estimated costs; (5) criminal penalties — fines up to $100 million and imprisonment up to 10 years for executives — for any fossil fuel company that abandons extraction operations without completing required remediation; and (6) a private right of action for any community within 5 miles of an abandoned fossil fuel site to sue for full remediation costs plus consequential damages.

There are an estimated 3.2 million documented orphaned oil and gas wells in the United States, with hundreds of thousands leaking methane and contaminating groundwater. Abandoned coal mines have left hundreds of communities with acid mine drainage, land subsidence, and contaminated water supplies.

Congress Must Enact a Complete Federal Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing, Directional Drilling for Shale Gas, and All Unconventional Fossil Fuel Extraction Methods on Federal Lands Within 2 Years, With a Full National Phase-Out Within 10 Years

Hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") — high-pressure injection of water and chemicals into rock to release oil and gas — must be immediately banned on federal public lands, with a complete national phase-out within 10 years. Fracking pollutes groundwater, releases methane, and locks in decades of additional fossil fuel dependence.

Congress must: (1) impose an immediate moratorium on all new permits for hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling, and all unconventional oil and gas extraction on federal lands and waters — effective within 60 days of enactment; (2) establish a 10-year national phase-out of all fracking operations — including on private lands — requiring all existing wells to cease operation by 2035; (3) require full environmental remediation of all fracking sites including groundwater testing, well plugging, and soil decontamination at the operator's expense; (4) mandate that all communities within 3 miles of an active or former fracking site receive free annual water and air quality testing for 20 years; (5) prohibit the export of fracked natural gas via LNG terminals after 2030; (6) criminal penalties — fines up to $50 million per violation and imprisonment up to 15 years — for any operator who continues operating after the phase-out deadline; and (7) a private right of action for any resident who can demonstrate health or property damage caused by fracking operations, with damages equal to all medical costs, property devaluation, and remediation costs plus punitive damages plus attorney's fees.

Fracking has been linked to groundwater contamination, increased seismic activity, and significant methane leakage — a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than CO2 over 20 years. Studies have documented measurable health impacts on communities within 1–3 miles of fracking operations.

Congress Must Enact a Complete Phase-Out of All Coal-Fired Power Generation by 2030, All Coal Mining Operations by 2035, and Provide Federally Funded Just Transition Support for All Displaced Workers and Communities

Coal is the most polluting energy source and must be fully phased out — no coal-fired power by 2030, no coal mining by 2035. Workers and communities that have depended on coal must receive federally funded support to build new livelihoods.

Congress must: (1) prohibit all new permits for coal-fired power plants — effective immediately; (2) require all existing coal-fired power plants to cease operations by December 31, 2030; (3) require all coal mining operations — surface mining, mountaintop removal, and underground mining — to cease by December 31, 2035; (4) establish a Coal Community Transition Fund — capitalized at $200 billion over 10 years — providing: (a) 5 years of wage replacement at 100% of prior earnings for all displaced coal workers; (b) free retraining and education for alternative employment in renewable energy, manufacturing, or healthcare; (c) full pension protection and healthcare coverage continuity for all retired and active coal workers; (d) economic development grants to coal-dependent communities; (5) require full reclamation and environmental remediation of all mine sites including acid mine drainage treatment; (6) criminal penalties — fines up to $100 million per facility and imprisonment up to 20 years — for operating a coal plant or mine beyond the deadline; and (7) a private right of action for any community downstream or downwind of a coal facility that suffers documented health or property harms.

Coal combustion is responsible for approximately 20% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions and is linked to thousands of premature deaths annually from air pollution. Mountaintop removal mining has permanently buried approximately 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams.

Congress Must Enact a Permanent Moratorium on All New Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling in U.S. Federal Waters, Accelerate the Phase-Out of Existing Offshore Operations, and End All Federal Fossil Fuel Subsidies Within 4 Years

A permanent ban on all new offshore oil and gas drilling must be enacted, existing offshore operations phased out, and over $20 billion in annual federal fossil fuel subsidies eliminated within four years. Public waters and public money must not continue funding an industry the world must move beyond.

Congress must: (1) impose a permanent moratorium on all new offshore oil and gas drilling leases in all U.S. federal waters including the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic — effective immediately; (2) prohibit the renewal or extension of any existing offshore drilling lease after December 31, 2030; (3) require the phase-out of all existing offshore oil and gas production by December 31, 2035, with an accelerated phase-out in Arctic waters by 2028; (4) end all federal fossil fuel subsidies — including intangible drilling cost deductions, percentage depletion allowances, and manufacturing tax deductions for fossil fuel companies — within 4 years, redirecting those revenues to the renewable energy transition fund; (5) establish strict liability for all offshore drilling operators for any spill regardless of cause — with no cap on damages; (6) require all offshore operators to post cleanup bonds of at least $10 billion before commencing any operation; (7) criminal penalties — fines up to $1 billion per spill and imprisonment up to 25 years — for any operator who knowingly conceals a spill or disables safety equipment; and (8) a private right of action for any coastal community, fishery, or individual who suffers economic or environmental harm from any offshore drilling operation.

The U.S. government provides an estimated $20 billion or more annually in direct and indirect subsidies to fossil fuel companies. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill released approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, causing billions of dollars in damage to coastal economies and ecosystems.

Congress Must Establish a Federal Mandate for 100% Clean, Renewable, and Zero-Emission Electricity Generation Across All U.S. Utilities by 2035, With Interim Milestones, Federal Investment, and Binding Enforcement

By 2035, every electric utility in the country must generate 100% of its power from clean, zero-emission sources — wind, solar, hydropower, and others. Clean electricity is the foundation for decarbonizing the entire economy, and this mandate sets binding interim milestones backed by federal investment and enforcement.

Congress must: (1) establish a 100% Clean Electricity Standard requiring all retail electricity suppliers to generate or procure 100% of their electricity from zero-emission sources — including solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and storage — by December 31, 2035; (2) set interim milestones of 50% by 2027 and 80% by 2031; (3) establish a Federal Clean Energy Investment Fund — capitalized at $1 trillion over 10 years — to: (a) finance utility-scale renewable energy projects in underserved and rural areas; (b) fund residential and commercial rooftop solar and energy efficiency upgrades with priority for low-income households; (c) build out interstate high-voltage transmission infrastructure to connect renewable generation to demand centers; (4) require all federal agencies and military installations to achieve 100% renewable electricity by 2030; (5) financial penalties of $500 per megawatt-hour above the clean energy threshold for any utility that fails interim milestones; (6) criminal penalties — fines up to $500 million and imprisonment up to 10 years — for any utility executive who falsifies clean energy compliance data; and (7) a private right of action for any ratepayer in a non-compliant utility territory for damages plus full attorney's fees.

The clean energy sector already employs more workers than the fossil fuel industry in the United States. Studies indicate that a rapid transition to renewable energy could create millions of new jobs while reducing electricity costs over the long term.

Congress Must Invest $500 Billion Over 10 Years in Green Infrastructure — Including Zero-Emission Public Transit, Clean Building Retrofits, and Urban Tree Canopy — With at Least 40% of All Investment Directed to Frontline and Environmental Justice Communities

$500 billion in federal investment over 10 years must build zero-emission public transit, retrofit existing buildings for energy efficiency, and expand urban tree canopy — with at least 40% directed to frontline communities that have historically borne the worst pollution while benefiting least from public investment.

Congress must: (1) establish the Green Infrastructure Investment Act — providing $500 billion over 10 years for: (a) zero-emission public transit systems including electric buses, light rail, and intercity rail with priority for communities lacking transportation access; (b) deep energy retrofits of all public buildings — schools, hospitals, and government facilities — to achieve net-zero emissions by 2035; (c) a federal program to retrofit all residential units for low- and moderate-income households — including insulation, heat pumps, and weatherization — at no cost to the household; (d) urban tree canopy expansion, green stormwater infrastructure, and urban heat island mitigation with priority for historically redlined neighborhoods; (e) wetland and coastal ecosystem restoration to provide natural carbon sequestration and climate resilience; (2) require that at least 40% of all green infrastructure investment flows to frontline environmental justice communities — defined as communities with above-average pollution burden and below-average income — enforced through annual federal audits; (3) require all green infrastructure projects to use Davis-Bacon prevailing wage and to prioritize local hiring; (4) penalties of 150% of misdirected funds plus criminal penalties for any federal administrator who diverts environmental justice funds; and (5) a private right of action for any environmental justice community that is denied its proportionate share of investment.

Studies show that low-income communities and communities of color bear disproportionate burdens from pollution and are least able to adapt to climate change impacts. Urban heat islands in historically redlined neighborhoods can be 5–12 degrees hotter than wealthier neighborhoods with more tree canopy.

Congress Must Impose a Federal Methane Tax on All Natural Gas Operations, Require All Natural Gas Utilities to Transition to Alternatives by 2040, and End All New Natural Gas Pipeline Construction Within 2 Years

Natural gas — mostly methane, a potent greenhouse gas — must be phased out of homes and utilities. A federal methane tax on gas operations, a mandate for gas utilities to transition customers to electric alternatives by 2040, and a ban on new gas pipeline construction within two years are all required to make this happen.

Congress must: (1) impose a federal methane emissions fee — starting at $900 per ton of methane in 2026 and increasing to $1,500 per ton by 2030 — on all upstream oil and gas operations, pipeline operators, and LNG facilities; (2) impose an immediate moratorium on all new natural gas pipeline permits, new LNG export facility permits, and new natural gas power plant construction; (3) require all natural gas distribution utilities to develop and file with federal regulators a plan to transition all residential, commercial, and industrial customers to electric alternatives — including heat pumps, induction cooktops, and electric water heaters — by December 31, 2040; (4) prohibit all new residential and commercial construction from installing natural gas appliances or connections after January 1, 2027; (5) establish a Federal Gas Utility Transition Fund — capitalized at $100 billion — to provide no-cost electrification retrofits for low-income households currently using natural gas; (6) criminal penalties — fines up to $50 million per violation and imprisonment up to 15 years — for any utility that knowingly misreports methane emissions data; and (7) a private right of action for any community that demonstrates measurable health harms from methane or associated air pollutants.

Methane is approximately 80 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2 over a 20-year period. Studies have found that natural gas cooking appliances emit nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants at levels exceeding EPA outdoor air quality standards inside homes.

Congress Must Abolish the Poultry and Livestock "Tournament" Ranking System That Determines Grower Pay by Comparison Against Neighbors — And Establish Minimum Contract Standards Protecting Farmers From Corporate Retaliation

The tournament system pays poultry contract farmers by comparing their flock performance against neighbors — a ranking that companies can manipulate through unequal input supplies. This system must be abolished and replaced with pay based on objective, transparent, independently verifiable performance criteria.

Congress must: (1) amend the Packers and Stockyards Act to explicitly prohibit tournament or ranking systems where grower compensation is determined by comparing performance against neighboring growers in the same flock cycle — finding such systems to be an unfair and deceptive practice; (2) require all poultry and livestock integrators to pay growers on an objective, non-comparative basis based on the grower's own documented inputs and performance; (3) establish federal minimum contract standards: (a) minimum 5-year contract term with renewal rights; (b) 180-day termination notice; (c) itemized breakdown of all required capital upgrades and company contributions; (d) prohibition on mandatory upgrades in final 2 years of contract; (e) no pre-dispute mandatory arbitration; (4) require integrators to provide growers access to all flock and production data used to calculate pay; (5) USDA civil penalties up to $1 million per violation per contract cycle; (6) criminal penalties — fines up to $10 million and imprisonment up to 10 years — for any integrator executive who retaliates against a grower for filing a USDA complaint; and (7) a private right of action for any grower subjected to a prohibited tournament system or retaliatory termination.

The top four poultry companies control approximately 54% of the U.S. broiler chicken market. Contract chicken farmers can be required to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment upgrades under threat of contract termination.