The campaign of Bernie Sanders scored a major coup
Saturday, earning the first endorsement of any candidate by a national
environmental group, Friends of the Earth.
Granted, the field is limited to Bernie Sanders and
Hillary Clinton, given that no living Republican candidate will ever
earn the endorsement of any environmental group, local, state, or
national. But with the narrowing gap between Clinton and Sanders, this
endorsement is no small thing.
Donald Trump, of course, currently the leading Republican candidate,
announced back in January of 2014
that “This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bullshit has got to stop. Our
planet is freezing, record low temps,and our GW scientists are stuck in
ice.”
Now, with 2014 behind us, the studies are in, and according to NOAA, 2014 was the warmest year on record:
The Sanders campaign released a statement from Concord, New Hampshire:
“I am very honored to receive the endorsement of one
of the great environmental organizations not only in America but in the
world,” Sanders said at the news conference at a park here along the
banks of the Merrimack River.
The endorsement was announced by Michael Herz, a
former chairman and current Friends of the Earth board member. Erich
Pica, the president of Friends of the Earth Action, said in a statement
that the endorsement means his group’s 2 million activists will promote
Sanders’ bid to become the Democratic Party nominee for president.
“He has proven himself a bold and fearless voice for
the planet,” Pica said of Sanders in a prepared statement. “Sen.
Sanders’ bold ideas and real solutions to addressing climate change,
inequality and promoting a transformative economy that prioritizes
public health and the environment over corporate profits, have earned
him an enthusiastic endorsement from Friends of the Earth Action.”
In the audience at the news conference was Jerry
Curran, the chairman of the New Hampshire chapter of the Sierra Club.
Another leading environmentalist and best-selling author, Bill McKibben,
took part in the May 26 kickoff of Sanders’ presidential campaign at a
Lake Champlain shoreline park in Burlington, Vermont.
In accepting the Friends of the Earth endorsement,
Sanders focused on the most serious environmental issue confronting the
planet: global warming. “We need to transform our energy system away
from fossil fuel and into sustainable energy,” Sanders said.
The endorsement capped a week during which Sanders
welcomed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s support for solar
power and energy efficiency, but questioned her refusal to take a stand
on construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and drilling for oil in
the Arctic Ocean.
“If you’re concerned about climate change, say no to
the Keystone XL pipeline,” Sanders said at the news conference. He said
the pipeline would ship some of the dirtiest oil on the planet from
Canada’s tar sands region across the United States to refineries in
Texas.
Sanders’ clear stand on the pipeline was among the factors Friends of the Earth cited in its endorsement.
Sanders said he would tax emissions from burning oil
and coal to discourage the use of fossil fuels responsible for climate
change. He has proposed eliminating $135 billion in tax breaks for
fossil fuel companies which turn enormous profits. He introduced
legislation Congress passed to create an energy efficiency block grant
program. His measure was folded into a broader energy bill that Congress
passed in 2007. He later secured $3.2 billion for the initiative to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. And his 10
Million Solar Roofs Act would make solar power more affordable and make
it simpler for homeowners and businesses to get local permits.
The environment gets far too little attention.
Republicans don’t care about it. Ann Coulter, for example, echoing what
many Republicans seem to believe, says immigration is the important issue, not the fact that sea levels are rising along with global temperatures, year after year.
It
is important that going forward, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie
Sanders address this important issue, because it is the only issue
being talked about in this campaign cycle that affects every living
person on this planet. And without a habitable planet, all other issues,
no matter how dear to your heart, become non-issues.
