SANDERS, CLINTON TRADE TWEETS ON CLIMATE

Twitter fight! Bernie and Hillary battle it out over who has the better climate plan

Ben Adler, 22 January 2016 (Grist)

“…[T]he Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton campaigns talked smack to each other on social media, fighting for the hearts of climate hawks…[ Sanders, Clinton, and O’Malley are all actively competing to be the strongest on climate change. It’s a noticeable shift from years past when climate change was considered too low of a priority to become a policy battleground. The candidates are convinced that the Democratic base is fired up about climate change and looking for real vision]…

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“Sanders — who last month released a very ambitious, but legislatively focused, climate plan — challenged Clinton to detail her own plans…[Clinton has recently moved] left on a couple of key climate issues…[She] came out against [the Keystone Pipeline shortly before President Obama rejected it…[and] took a stance against Arctic drilling and released a plan with high targets for renewable energy generation...But Clinton has not laid out a comprehensive agenda…[or] called for a carbon-pricing system, like Sanders’ carbon tax proposal. It isn’t clear how she would reach her clean energy goals. And she has adamantly refused to join Sanders in calling for a full ban on fossil fuel leasing on federal land…[though she has] said she would charge more than the current below-market rates for federal fossil fuel leases…So the Sanders campaign issued a statement bragging about his climate agenda and…asking if she will make the same commitments…[to] oppose the Bakken crude oil pipeline that cuts through Iowa and three other states…[and] the Northeast Direct pipeline in New Hampshire…[and] support a carbon tax…[and] continue President Obama’s moratorium on all new coal leases on public land…[and ban] fossil fuels extraction on public lands…[and oppose fracking and] offshore drilling…Where is Secretary Clinton’s climate plan?

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“Clinton campaign chair John Podesta tweeted a snappy rebuttal…[pointing] to a post he had published on Medium…[and accusing the Sanders campaign of failing to search effectively for answers]…He went on to highlight Clinton’s comments throughout the campaign on the importance of combatting climate change…[and] the promises she has already made…to fully implement Obama’s Clean Power Plan to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants…[and asking how Sanders will back out of] international climate deal that President Obama reached with the rest of the world in Paris…[which Sanders opposed]…Sanders has the better of this argument. Coming out against Keystone right before Obama rejected it and promising to complete implementation of your predecessor’s plans isn’t much of a bold new climate agenda…[and Podesta did not answer the Sanders campaign’s] policy questions…” click here for more

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