Executive Summary The People’s GND Working Group Climate Action Policy Survey The U.S. House of Representatives-Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Response to the House Committee Request for Information from The People’s Green New Deal Working Group: A database of over 100 Climate Policy Proposals. Methodology The People’s Green New Deal Working Group represents an informal coalition of activists based in New York, including members of Climate Action Mondays and 350NYC, as well as academics at Columbia University and City University of New York (CUNY). Our work has been to collect, in a non-biased process, outstanding climate policy recommendations that can be used by the House Committee and other lawmakers to write an ambitious and just national climate policy. The result is a “Climate Action Policy Survey” of over 100 proposals, reviewed and digested for specific policy ideas by sector. The proposals in our database were either submitted by experts and organizations or collected via an extensive internet search by a team of volunteers. In the coming months, we intend to post the database online to collect additional recommendations and ask the wider community to vote on their priority proposals to include in a National Climate Policy. This submission is unique in that it represents a compendium of climate solutions and policies from a broad set of sources and organizations, listed therein, including: Federal, State, & Local Government Legislation Inter-government Coalitions Think Tanks Non-profit Groups and Coalitions Academic Studies and Reports The sectors (in sheet tabs) covered include: List of 100+ Proposals (with summaries) Proposal Comparison (showing which proposals touch on which sectors). Electric Power Food & Farm Materials Land, Water & Forests Women's Rights & Educating Girls Buildings & Cities Transportation Just Transition Environmental Justice Each document is assigned a number and a designation of P#, PB#, or PL#. PL designates an enacted law or regulation, usually on the state or local level. PB designates a bill or proposed piece of legislation or regulation. All other documents are designated with P. The full list of policy proposals is included in a database which we have submitted (as both a PDF and linked Google Sheet) along with this outline. This database is a work in progress but already includes hundreds of categorized recommendations, most of which have been reviewed for similarities and overlap between proposals. Overlaps can be identified by any entry of “web lingo” (the language we are drafting for our website) that has multiple proposal codes listed as its “supporters.” In this summary, we have included a few representative recommendations for each sector to highlight the large diversity of sources that we have compiled. The framework for the categories of our Climate Action Policy Survey, is based on sectors described in Project Drawdown (https://www.drawdown.org), an innovative ​ ​ selection of 100 existing solutions to reduce greenhouse gases. Many of these solutions align with the questions outlined on the house committee’s Request for ​ Information page. ​ Sector and numbering based on the Committee’s Request for Information: 1. Sector-Specific Policies ​ 1a. Transportation We have included a range of innovative policy recommendations to reduce carbon emissions from the Transport sector, many originating from academic studies such as the Pew Center on Global Change’s “Saving Oil and Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” (P85). Multiple organizations support the mandate of electric only vehicle sales by 2030 to 2040 (dates vary) and the full electrification of mass transit. Others advocate for mass investment to expand public transit and for better connections between modes of transportation. 1b. Electric power. ​ Fifteen states and many cities in the US have passed legislation this year to achieve 50%-70% clean energy by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Elements from these pieces of legislation are included in the database and to various degrees offer a template of how the plans can be scaled-up to cover all 50 US states. An example of how reach these renewable energy targets is outlined in the People’s Policy Project’s Green Tennessee Valley Authority proposal, which discusses how to use the Tennessee Valley Authority ​ (TVA), a public power company that is fully owned by the federal government, to decarbonize electricity generation across the country (Proposal ‘P 33’) 1c. Buildings ​ New York City passed the most ambitious Buildings Bills in the US in April 2019. Referred to as the Climate Mobilization Act (CMA), it contained many mandated changes aimed at reducing building-level GHG emissions, given that nearly 70% of all city emissions are building-related. The centerpiece was Local Law LL 97, designed to reduce total carbon emissions from large buildings by at least 40% citywide by 2030, and by 80% by 2050. It enforces heavy fines on any emissions above the threshold. (Proposal ‘PL71’) 3. Environmental justice The database made a concerted effort to include ‘Just Transition' proposals. New York State’s Climate Leadership and Protection Act (S 6599) has very strong provisions to protect communities that will be affected by transition away from fossil fuels, including job training in renewable energy industries (Proposal ‘PL 60’). Climate Justice Alliance has promoted a policy that any National Climate Policy must include a center for worker’s rights and training (Proposal ‘P 10’). Friends of the Earth emphasizes upholding the rights of indigenous communities (Proposal ‘P 11’). In “Equitable & Just Climate Platform,” a coalition of 70 Environmental Justice organizations advocates that environmental justice must be the foundation of climate policy, prioritizing health, air & water quality, the reduction of toxic pollution while reducing greenhouse gases, access to affordable energy and affordable, clean transportation, just relocation and rebuilding programs, investment in EJ communities, and family sustaining jobs for all communities (Proposal ‘P41’). 6. Agriculture and Food World Resources Institute has written an excellent report on technical opportunities ​ ​ and policies for cost-effective scenarios to meet food, land-use, and greenhouse gas emissions goals in 2050 in ways that can also help to alleviate poverty and do not exacerbate water challenges. Although global in focus, it contains many policies that are relevant to the agriculture industry in the US (Proposal ‘P 88’). Regenerative farming methods which can accelerate carbon capture are given considerable priority in Project Drawdown. The National Farm Coalition addresses this aspect of farming and other climate advantages of smaller family farms (Proposal ‘P 92’). Organic Consumers Association & Regeneration International have signed onto a “Green New Deal for Farmers and Ranchers.” They propose giving credit to farmers for eco-services and holding corporate polluters accountable; breaking up corporate agribusiness monopolies; supporting a transition to organic regenerative practices; supporting beginning and diverse farmers & ranchers; and strengthening and enforcing USDA’s organic program (Proposal ‘P16’). 8. Oceans, Forestry and Public Lands Multiple organizations, such as think tank Data for Progress, propose expanding national parks and forests, and restoring marshland, peatlands, and watersheds as a way to increase carbon sinks (Proposal ‘P21’, among others). Columbia University’s Sabin Center notes that many of these ecosystems also buffer against floods and storms, as well as improve soil quality in conjunction with permaculture practices (Proposal ‘P6’). Ocean conservation and restoration in particular has the added benefit of potential to create thousands of jobs in seaweed and oyster farming, production of biofuels and plastic alternatives, managed fishing, as well as recreational industries (UrbanOcean Lab, Greenwave, & Surfrider Foundation, Proposal ‘P32’). All of these efforts should be made while respecting indigenous land treaties and working in solidarity with indigenous communities to amend past injustices and adopt their ancestral conservation practices (Zero Hour, Karuk Tribe: Proposals ‘P9’, ‘P66’) 9. Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases The most urgent legal fix in regards to non-CO2 emissions is for Congress to pass a national bill phasing out high global warming potential hydrofluorocarbons (GWP HFCs) which are used as refrigerants, and restricting the use of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons. Appliances using safe alternatives to high GWP HFCs are now available and consumers would be encouraged to buy these if credits were made available. The US must comply with the limit of HFC emissions mandated in the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which calls for a 70% reduction in emissions by 2030. The Environmental Investigation Agency has outlined essential steps that could be enacted in order to reduce the contribution of these gases to global warming (Proposal ‘P64’). 13. International In low-income countries, rapid population growth is identified as a factor that increases economic vulnerability in the face of climate change ( Proposal ‘P102’). Population Connection has published studies that show that investing in international family ​ planning and reproductive health services,including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), will result in greater numbers of girls completing their education. Such an outcome would likely result in higher employment rates, women having children later in life and