Schiff Senate campaign releases climate plan

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has become the first major candidate in the California Senate race to release a climate plan, calling for a federal wildfire insurance program and an end to federal fossil fuel subsidies.

The plan, first reported by Politico, calls for an end to subsidies for oil and gas production, which the Schiff campaign says would result in another $13 billion in tax revenue over the next decade. Schiff also called for the point-of-sale electric vehicle tax credit to be required by dealerships, as opposed to the voluntary participation under the current tax credit. 

Schiff’s proposal would additionally require a federal insurance program for wildfires, which have devastated the western U.S. in general and California in particular. Golden State homeowners have seen insurance rates increase dramatically due to fires, while last year multiple insurers announced they would limit or halt new policies in the state.

The California congressman’s plan also calls for decarbonization targets to apply to aviation, the source of 1 billion tons a year of carbon dioxide. Schiff’s proposal would require a target date for net-zero emissions from the aviation sector, although it does not specify a date. It further calls for the passage of legislation introduced by Schiff in the House that would require insurance companies to disclose investments in the oil, gas and coal sectors.

Schiff has led California’s jungle primary in most polling, with Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Republican candidate Steve Garvey tied for second. Schiff and the other leading Democratic candidates, Porter and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), have all supported the Green New Deal resolution introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), but Schiff is the first Senate candidate to introduce a specific climate plan. The Hill has reached out to the Lee and Porter campaigns for comment on whether similar proposals are forthcoming.

— Updated at 4:28 p.m.