The energy and climate sections of the Democratic Party’s 2016 platform, approved at the party convention in July, calls for a national mobilization to fight climate change.

On page 45 of the platform, the Democratic Party agreed, “We believe the United States must lead in forging a robust global solution to the climate crisis. We are committed to a national mobilization, and to leading a global effort to mobilize nations, to address this threat on a scale not seen since World War II.”

The platform states climate change is an “urgent and severe threat” and calls for an 80 percent cut in carbon-dioxide emissions below 2005 levels by 2050 and getting 50 percent of the nation’s electric power from “clean energy sources” by 2025. The platform also adopted a provision calling for the Department of Justice to investigate companies for skeptical statements they’ve made concerning the causes and consequences of climate change.

In addition, the platform supports the Paris Agreement, an international agreement adopted by 195 countries that aims to keep global temperature increases to “well below” two degrees Celsius.

A Move Toward ‘Negative Growth’

Myron Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says the Democrats’ platform could end up constricting the U.S. economy.

“President [Barack] Obama’s environmental policies have already been hard on energy developers and the economy, so if we elect a Democrat president and follow their party’s environmental platform, Americans will have hugely expensive energy costs and no economic growth,” Ebell said.

“And if they continue with and expand President Obama’s climate agenda, we’ll [end up with] negative growth,” said Ebell.

Green Business Is Big Business

Gary L. Stone, vice president of engineering at Five States Energy Capital, says Democrats’ energy and climate platform is like a wish list for those waging a war on fossil fuels.

“Anti-business Democrats are using their supposed concern for the environment as a tool to end the use of fossil fuels and capitalism,” said Stone.

“The Democrat coalition of radical environmental groups, the Environmental Protection Agency, and green companies claim they want to help the environment, but those claims are dubious at best since the oil and gas industry is already doing a good job of policing itself,” Stone said. “Being green is big business.”

Article originally published at HeartlandInstitute.org.