Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

5 hours ago

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

6 hours ago

Leaders, Journalist Groups React to Israeli Gaza Strike That Killed Five Journalists

10 hours ago

Trump To Sign Executive Order Directing AG To Prosecute Flag Desecration

11 hours ago

Trump Signs Orders Aimed At Ending Cashless Bail Policies

11 hours ago

Fresno County DUI Crash Sends Car Into Embankment Near Highway 99

14 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Again Detained by US Immigration Officials

14 hours ago

Fresno County Wildfire Burns 3,338 Acres, Evacuation Orders Issued

14 hours ago
Beto O'Rourke Unveils Climate Plan With Yosemite as Backdrop
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
April 29, 2019

Share

EL PORTAL — Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke has announced his first major policy initiative, a $5 trillion plan to combat climate change that he says will keep the Earth from sliding past the point of no return in less than a generation.

The plan calls for increasing taxes on “corporations and the wealthiest among us” and “ending the tens of billions of dollars of tax breaks currently given to fossil fuel companies” while offering federal grants to encourage innovative improvements in housing and transportation.
The former Texas congressman unveiled his proposal on Monday from California’s Yosemite National Park, a dramatic backdrop for a move he hopes can jumpstart a campaign that began to much national fanfare but has seen some of that luster fade in recent weeks.
The plan calls for increasing taxes on “corporations and the wealthiest among us” and “ending the tens of billions of dollars of tax breaks currently given to fossil fuel companies” while offering federal grants to encourage innovative improvements in housing and transportation.
It includes $1.5 trillion in direct federal funding, while seeking to incentivize an additional $3.5 trillion from states, private capital and other sources over 10 years to improve aging infrastructure nationwide and to take “significant actions to defend communities” preparing for intensified floods, droughts, hurricanes, fires and other natural disasters fueled by a changing climate.
Like others in the packed field of Democrats seeking the White House, O’Rourke promised to sign climate change-fighting executive orders on the first day of his presidency — including rejoining the 2016 Paris Agreement, from which President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S.

O’Rourke’s Plan Will Find a Receptive Audience in California

And, aligning with the Green New Deal, an ambitious but longshot initiative backed by some of the most liberal Democrats in Congress, O’Rourke’s proposal calls on the U.S. to guarantee net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, while promising to reach half that goal in just the next 11 years.
“This is the most ambitious climate plan in the history of the United States,” O’Rourke said on a video from Yosemite that he posted on Twitter. He has for weeks warned that the U.S. and the world only have a few years to act before damage to the climate becomes nearly irreversible, and he called the issue his top priority.
O’Rourke’s plan will find a receptive audience in California. The state has set a goal of generating 100 percent of its electricity from noncarbon sources by 2045 and achieving “carbon neutrality,” meaning it takes as much carbon dioxide out of the air as it emits.
The announcement comes amid O’Rourke’s first visit as a presidential candidate to California, a state that’s experiencing more destructive and deadlier wildfires due in part to climate change. A blaze last summer caused a partial shutdown of Yosemite, and O’Rourke on Sunday met privately with firefighters in Mariposa County who battled it for weeks.
Shunning the lucrative fundraisers that commonly bring presidential contenders to California, O’Rourke drove hours from San Francisco, where he held a town hall on Sunday, to Mariposa, home to fewer than 20,000 people and, in the 2016 presidential primary, only about 6,000 voters.
He was similarly encountering few voters on his early morning walking tour of Yosemite, designed to learn about the effects of climate change on the park, 1,200 square miles (3,100 square kilometers) known globally for breathtaking waterfalls and giant sequoia trees. He then planned to drive to the Central Valley to meet with college students, a staple of his campaign.

With Nearly 40 Million People to Reach, Breaking Through Is Tough

The trip is consistent with the do-it-yourself campaign style that gave O’Rourke an unorthodox credibility with supporters in Texas and beyond. Californians contributed more than $5.5 million to his unsuccessful Senate bid last fall, second only to Texans in giving to the campaign.

“It is unusual to come to California, where there are so many Democratic donors, and decide not to raise money. Maybe he’s doing so well online that he thinks he can not raise money on this trip and try to make a point of wanting to talk to people instead.” Rose Kapolczynski, who managed former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer’s campaigns
The state’s big donor bases in Silicon Valley and Hollywood often function as ATMs for presidential hopefuls, and candidates such as Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and California Sen. Kamala Harris are already tapping in. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who entered the race Thursday, has planned two fundraisers in May.
“It is unusual to come to California, where there are so many Democratic donors, and decide not to raise money,” said Rose Kapolczynski, who managed former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer’s campaigns. “Maybe he’s doing so well online that he thinks he can not raise money on this trip and try to make a point of wanting to talk to people instead.”
O’Rourke opened his campaign last month to large crowds in key early states such as Iowa and New Hampshire but also in battleground areas that included Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio, as well as solid early fundraising. But, as the initial curiosity surrounding the onetime punk rock guitarist has subsided, O’Rourke has seen some of the buzz around his upstart campaign die down.
He may be hoping his I’ll-campaign-anywhere style is novel enough to sprawling California to gain fresh buzz. The state moved its 2020 presidential primary to March with the goal of gaining more sway in the nominating contest. But with nearly 40 million people to reach in California alone, breaking through is tough for any candidate.
“We’re the black hole of politics,” said Bob Mulholland, a Democratic National Committee member from Northern California who is supporting Harris. “Almost anything you do in this state, no one notices.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

New Fresno EOC Chief: ‘We Have to Eliminate Bleeding Programs’

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested in Domestic Violence Case

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Crash With Semi-Truck Leaves Man Dead

DON'T MISS

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

DON'T MISS

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

DON'T MISS

Two Students Arrested After Fight at Visalia’s Redwood High School

DON'T MISS

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Man After Shooting and Stabbing Leave Two Hospitalized

DON'T MISS

Entz: Bulldogs Must ‘Learn, Burn, Return’ After Kansas Loss

DON'T MISS

Caleb Quick’s Father, Other Parents Protest at Fresno Court to Repeal Prop 57

UP NEXT

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

UP NEXT

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

UP NEXT

SF Has Avoided Trump’s Ire Until Now. Will He Send National Guard?

UP NEXT

Leaders, Journalist Groups React to Israeli Gaza Strike That Killed Five Journalists

UP NEXT

CA Bill To Give Interest On Insurance Payments To Homeowners

UP NEXT

Trump To Sign Executive Order Directing AG To Prosecute Flag Desecration

UP NEXT

Trump Signs Orders Aimed At Ending Cashless Bail Policies

UP NEXT

US National Guard Troops in Washington to Begin Carrying Weapons, Officials Say

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Orders Aimed at Ending Cashless Bail Policies

UP NEXT

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

5 hours ago

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

6 hours ago

Two Students Arrested After Fight at Visalia’s Redwood High School

6 hours ago

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

6 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Man After Shooting and Stabbing Leave Two Hospitalized

6 hours ago

Entz: Bulldogs Must ‘Learn, Burn, Return’ After Kansas Loss

7 hours ago

Caleb Quick’s Father, Other Parents Protest at Fresno Court to Repeal Prop 57

8 hours ago

SF Has Avoided Trump’s Ire Until Now. Will He Send National Guard?

9 hours ago

Lil Nas X Pleads Not Guilty to Felony Charges of Assaulting Police

9 hours ago

Leaders, Journalist Groups React to Israeli Gaza Strike That Killed Five Journalists

10 hours ago

New Fresno EOC Chief: ‘We Have to Eliminate Bleeding Programs’

Steven R. Lewis, the brand new chief executive officer of the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, says he’ll be prepared to ax p...

1 hour ago

Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission CEO, Steven Lewis
1 hour ago

New Fresno EOC Chief: ‘We Have to Eliminate Bleeding Programs’

Fresno County sheriff’s deputy Jaime Mendoza, 30, was arrested Monday, August 25, 2025, on suspicion of domestic violence, officials said. (Fresno County SO)
2 hours ago

Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested in Domestic Violence Case

fresno
5 hours ago

Fresno County Crash With Semi-Truck Leaves Man Dead

YouTube app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. (Reuters File)
5 hours ago

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

California Governor Gavin Newsom, along with local congressional representatives, state officials and supporters, speaks as he announces the redrawing of California's congressional maps, calling on voters to approve a ballot measure, in response to a similar move in Texas being supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., August 14, 2025. (Reuters File)
6 hours ago

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

6 hours ago

Two Students Arrested After Fight at Visalia’s Redwood High School

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Oval Office, at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
6 hours ago

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

6 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Man After Shooting and Stabbing Leave Two Hospitalized

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend