Greenpeace gives Bloomberg a D-plus on climate

Environmental group Greenpeace has given former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s climate plan a D-plus grade, saying it does not have detailed targets and doesn’t set an agenda for phasing out the fossil fuel industry. 

Bloomberg, who became a late entrant into the Democratic presidential race in November, said at the time that combatting climate change would be one of his top priorities. 

Greenpeace, however, said that the candidate’s newly released climate plan has “too many holes.”

Bloomberg’s plan aims to move the country toward a 100 percent  “clean-energy economy-wide future” by 2050, cut emissions by 50 percent before 2030 and achieve 80 percent clean electricity by the end of his second term in office.

To do this, he has proposed measures such as replacing coal plants with clean energy and setting carbon and pollution limits on new power plants.

Greenpeace USA senior climate campaigner Jack Shapiro said in a statement that he believes Bloomberg’s plan “has too many holes to be taken seriously” but expressed optimism that the billionaire could release more climate proposals in the coming weeks. 

“Based on his priorities both as Mayor of New York City and as a philanthropist, we expect to see more plans for climate action coming from the Bloomberg campaign. With just weeks until the first votes are cast, he must release them quickly to have any real credibility on climate in the 2020 race,” Shapiro said.

Antha Williams, senior campaign adviser on climate, energy and environment for Bloomberg, told The Hill in an email that Greenpeace’s score is based on “incomplete information” and said the candidate would soon release more proposals.

“In the coming weeks, Mike will release several policy proposals on a range of climate issues that impact Americans and informed by Mike’s extensive environmental advocacy — which is unmatched among the current presidential candidates,” Williams said.

Greenpeace has rated Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) the best on climate, giving him an A-plus, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with an A and businessman Tom Steyer with an A-minus. 

Bloomberg has advocated for limiting the impacts of climate change.

He has given funding to the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, which aims to help transition the U.S. away from coal energy. He is also a leader of America’s Pledge, a coalition of states, cities and businesses that try to keep their emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

Updated at 2:13 p.m. to change the attribution for the quote from a Bloomberg campaign official