The future of environmental policy and justice are all decided by the actions of representatives in government that we elect. That’s why SAVE held a screening of the final Democratic presidential primary debate on Wednesday night in Babbio 220. The event’s goal was to allow members and spectators alike to learn more about the environmental positions of the two presidential candidates. The environment, as it turns out, was only mentioned briefly in the debate, and never made it as one of the top topics of the night. However, here are some key excerpts from both candidates:
Clinton started on the offensive and attacked her opponent, saying, “ The clean power plan (proposed by Barack Obama) is something that Senator Sanders has said he would delay implementing, which makes absolutely no sense. We need to implement all of the president’s executive actions and quickly move to make a bridge from coal to natural gas to clean energy.That is the way we will keep the lights on while we are transitioning to a clean energy future.” Clinton also added that we need to move from “coal to natural gas to clean energy.”
Sanders, for his part, refuted those attacks, saying “Let’s be clear. You’re looking at the senator who introduced the most comprehensive climate change legislation in the history of the United States Senate.” He then called for Secretary Clinton join him on “ imposing a tax on carbon on the fossil fuel industry and making massive investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy…and ending fracking in the United States of America.”
Both Democratic candidates have proven themselves to be formidable proponents of the environmental cause. Clinton recently came out against Keystone Pipeline XL and has stated that she would like to place practical limits on fracking. She has also championed Barack Obama’s green legislation and policies. Sanders, meanwhile, is an environmental champion in his own right as well. He supports a carbon tax and has been a vocal opponent of fracking and the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
For more information on each candidate’s’ environmental stances, it would be best to check their campaign websites and pay attention to their public speeches as the race for the nomination tightens.
