Vice President Joe Biden knows that young Americans are the future of our country and that the 2020 election will have a significant impact on their lives and the lives of future generations. That’s why Joe’s agenda includes policies that matter the most to students and young people.  

Joe will:

Ensure that the United States achieves a 100% clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050. 

Joe has outlined a bold plan—a Clean Energy Revolution—to address climate change and lead the world in addressing the climate emergency. He will make a historic investment in our clean energy future and environmental justice. Joe’s climate and environmental justice proposal will make a federal investment of $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years, leveraging additional private sector and state and local investments to total more than $5 trillion. 

On day one, Joe will sign a series of new executive orders with unprecedented reach that go well beyond the Obama-Biden Administration platform and put us on the right track. He will use the authority of the executive branch to make progress and significantly reduce emissions by: 

• Requiring aggressive methane pollution limits for oil and gas operations.
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by preserving and implementing the Clean Air Act and developing rigorous new fuel economy standards.
• Protecting biodiversity, slowing extinction rates, and helping leverage natural climate solutions by conserving 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030.
• Protecting America’s natural treasures by permanently protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other areas impacted by President Trump’s attack on federal lands and waters.

Joe will demand that Congress enacts legislation in the first year of his presidency that establishes an enforcement mechanism that includes milestone targets no later than the end of his first term in 2025 and makes a historic investment in clean energy and climate research and innovation. He will also build a stronger, more resilient nation by ensuring that every dollar spent spent toward rebuilding our roads, bridges, buildings, the electric grid, and our water

infrastructure will be used to prevent, reduce, and withstand a changing climate. And, Joe will rally the rest of the world to meet the threat of climate change by re-committing to the Paris Agreement on climate change and by leading an effort to get every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate targets. 

Ensure education and training beyond high school is a reliable pathway to the middle class. 

In today’s increasingly globalized and technology-driven economy, 12 years of education is no longer enough for American workers to remain competitive and earn a middle class income. But for too many, earning a degree or other credential after high school is so unaffordable, it’s out of reach. For others, their education saddles them with so much debt it prevents them from buying a home or saving for retirement, or their parents or grandparents take on some of their financial burden. 

Joe will provide two years of community college or other high-quality training program without debt for any hard-working individual looking to learn and improve their skills. He will also make four-year public colleges and universities tuition-free for all students whose family incomes are below $125,000. And, Joe will:

• Double the maximum value of Pell grants, significantly increasing the number of middle-class Americans who can participate in the program and increasing the grant value for individuals already eligible for Pell. 
• More than halve payments on undergraduate federal student loans so individuals will pay 5% of their discretionary income (income minus taxes and essential spending like housing and food) over $25,000 towards their loans.  After 20 years, the remainder of the loans for people who have responsibly made payments through the program will be 100% forgiven. Individuals with new and existing loans will be automatically enrolled in the income-based repayment program, with the opportunity to opt out if they wish. Individuals making $25,000 or less per year will not owe any payments on their undergraduate federal student loans and also won’t accrue any interest on those loans.
• Make loan forgiveness work for public servants by creating a new, simple program that offers $10,000 of undergraduate or graduate student debt relief for every year of national or community service, up to five years, and by fixing the existing Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

End our gun violence epidemic.

Joe knows that gun violence is a public health epidemic. He’s taken on the National Rifle Association (NRA) on the national stage and won—twice. It’s within our grasp to end our gun violence epidemic and respect the Second Amendment, which is limited. As president, Joe will pursue constitutional, common-sense gun safety policies. Joe will:

• Ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act, and buy back the assault weapons and high-capacity magazines already in our communities.
• Require background checks for all gun sales and close other loopholes in the federal background check system, including the “boyfriend loophole,” the “gun show and online sales loophole,” the “hate crime loophole,” and the “Charleston loophole.”
• Hold gun manufacturers accountable so they can be held civilly liable for their products.
• End the online sale of firearms and ammunitions.