On February 14^th Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic candidate currently running for President in the 2020 election, held a town hall event in Virginia to pitch her policies which included her approach to climate change and environmental justice.

On stage, Warren spoke her belief that climate change should be a priority rather than an afterthought: “Climate change threatens every living thing on this planet.” Warren explained, “What truly scares me the most is every single time the scientists go out and collect some more data and do some more analysis, the problem is worse than we thought, and we have less time than we thought.”

Warren further went on to criticize the recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rollbacks by directly addressing Andrew Wheeler, the current head of EPA who enforced these rollbacks: “I have a really creative idea for this.” She remarked, “And that is, how about we get rid of the coal lobbyist who is running the EPA?” Met by cheers and applauds, the crowds’ eruptions were a reminder to how Wheeler has faced controversy since taking up the position. He had previously opposed climate regulations for power plants and encouraged the Energy Department to support coal plants, all actions which seemingly prioritized profit over environmental preservation.    

To protect the environment and combat climate change, Warren claimed that investing into science and research is essential and stated her proposal to do just this: “I am going to increase by tenfold the money we put into science, basic science, applied science, every part of this. We have to innovate out of this problem.” She also promised that with any action she takes, “at the core has to be environmental justice,” explaining, “for decades in this country, this nation has permitted toxic waste dumps, polluting factories, to be located in or next to communities of color.” She said, “It has damaged the health of children who live in those communities.” If elected, Warren promises to contribute $1 trillion to the cause.

Warren also added that while the Green New Deal is a positive approach, it is not enough to combat climate change’s threat alone. She suggested a Blue New Deal to coexist alongside the Green New Deal, which aims to also protect the oceans.

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