O'Malley unveils climate change plan

Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley unveiled his climate change plan Thursday, calling for the end of fossil fuel use and a full clean energy economy by 2050.

"New technologies have put a clean energy, energy independent future within reach — while the threat of climate change, and the urgent need for new middle-­class jobs, makes it imperative that we aggressively pursue it," O'Malley says in a white paper on his plan. The former Maryland governor also detailed his plan in an op-ed for Paste BN.

O'Malley said that, within 35 years, the nation "should be 100% powered by clean energy, supported by millions of new jobs."

Ending reliance on oil and other fossil fuels is "a public health imperative," O'Malley said in his white paper, claiming it would extend the lives of 200,000 Americans per year.

O'Malley said he would kill the Keystone XL pipeline and  seek a cap on carbon emissions from all sources, with proceeds from federal permits to be used to help lower- and middle-class families with job transition assistance in a new clean energy economy.

The plan also includes creation of a "Clean Energy Jobs Corps" to work with local communities on energy-saving projects like retrofitted buildings, new green spaces, and expanded forests that can absorb more greenhouse gases.

In his white paper, O'Malley appears to criticize President Obama's "all-of-the-above" energy policy that includes increased drilling for oil and natural gas.

"We can’t meet the climate challenge with an all-of-­the‐above energy strategy, or from drilling off our coasts, or from building pipelines that bring oil from tar sands in Canada," O'Malley said. "Meeting the climate challenge requires a commitment to one simple concept: a full transition to clean, renewable energy and an end our reliance on fossil fuels altogether."