United States Democratic candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, promised unprecedented new action on climate change in the first forum devoted to the issue in a presidential campaign. More than half of the 10 candidates at the forum openly embraced the idea of putting a tax or fee on carbon dioxide pollution, the one policy that most environmental economists agree is the most effective way to cut emissions — but also one that has drawn intense political opposition. Opponents have attacked it as an “energy tax” that could raise fuel costs, and it has been considered politically toxic in Washington for nearly a decade. Nearly all the candidates have called for re-joining the Paris climate change agreement and for implementing policies that to reach a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The calls vow to undo the Trump administration’s environmental policies and spend trillions of dollars to promote renewable energy.

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The New York Times