HILLARY CLINTON COULD RUN ON STRONGEST CLIMATE CHANGE PLATFORM EVER...

The draft platform committed Hillary Clinton to a carbon tax, a climate test for future pipelines and tighter rules on fracking. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

 

The Democrats’ draft platform won’t be ratified until the convention, but climate activists are already hailing it as a ‘monumental victory’...

 

Hillary Clinton could campaign much more aggressively against climate change than any US presidential candidate before her, under a draft platform adopted by Democratic party leaders.

The leaders committed the presumptive Democratic nominee to a carbon tax, a climate test for future pipelines and tighter rules on fracking – all stronger positions than those held by Clinton herself at the start of the race.

The Clinton camp said, after the platform was adopted, that she does not support a carbon tax and the draft still needs to be ratified at the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia this month.

But the draft platform reflects the influence of Bernie Sanders and other liberals on the 2016 race, and the recognition by Clinton of the need to win over those supporters in swing states such as Colorado, Florida and Virginia where there is strong concern about climate change.

The bold stance could also help Clinton define Donald Trump as a climate denier who is out of touch with reality.

The draft platform calls for putting a price on carbon, making approval of pipelines contingent on a climate test, stronger regulation of fracking – especially concerning water – and giving priority to renewable energy over natural gas power plants.

Campaign groups claimed the platform as a win for the environmental movement – despite a much publicized failure to gather support for a ban on fracking, which had been a key goal.

Josh Fox, the maker of the 2010 documentary Gasland who was on the platform committee, said campaigners had won a “monumental victory” in putting pipelines to a climate test, and giving priority to wind and solar power.

A similar consideration was used by Barack Obama to reject the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

“This is a ginormous shift in Democratic policy because the Democrats were on a bullet train to frack gas hell and we just turned that 180 degrees around,” he said.

In several senses, the draft platform codifies the sweeping changes already undertaken by Obama in his second term and makes it harder for Clinton to backtrack.

Since 2014, Obama has decisively jettisoned his “all of the above” energy policy, moving to restrict oil drilling off the Atlantic coast and mining for coal on public lands. Earlier this year, he proposed a carbon fee in the form of a $10-a-barrel tax on oil.

“We’ve gone in four years from all of the above, and natural gas as a bridge to the future, to a platform that explicitly recognizes that wind and sun should take priority over gas. It also says that all federal action should be weighed to see if it ‘significantly exacerbates’ global warming – the so-called Keystone test,” said Bill McKibben, an author and climate activist. “The entire landscape of America’s energy policy will be changed if (Hillary Clinton) follows her word here.”

Clinton from the start of her campaign had committed to fighting for Obama’s climate agenda. But she had notably lagged behind Sanders – and even Obama at times – on key issues such as the Keystone pipeline and Arctic drilling.

Clinton has had to shift consistently throughout the campaign – and will continue to do so on climate to appeal to Sanders voters, he said.

But he said the politics of swing states such as Pennsylvania – which Trump is targeting – made her cautious of seeming anti-oil. “I think Clinton is reluctant to give Trump an opening that is anti-energy production,” he said.

Monday 11 July 2016

source: https://www.theguardian.com/us

original story HERE

To see our most current positions, opinions, comments, agreement or disagreement with this article, and/or possible criticisms related to the subjects or facts raised in the above article, click here.  Then look for those subjects in the navigation links at the top the page. To learn about more about global warming, climate change or greenhouse gases as well as the causes, consequences, solutions, definitions, facts and tipping points related to these subjects, click here
 
To automatically be emailed a summary of the latest news on global warming, sign up for our Global Warming Blog by clicking here. (Put your email address in the Global Warming Blog Subscribe box at the bottom right of the page.) 
 
To sign a critical petition for declaring a national and international global warming State of Emergency, click  here!

To help do something about the climate change and global warming emergency, click here.

Sign up for our free Global Warming Blog by clicking here. (In your email, you will receive critical news, research, and the warning signs for the next global warming disaster.)

To share this blog post: Go to the Share button to the left below.


Be the first to comment

Please check your e-mail for a link to activate your account.
Get More Info Here Take Action Support Our Mission

Subscribe to Our Global Warming Blog

Subscribe

Subscribe to Our Global Warming Blog

Subscribe