HRC and the Environment: Activists are doubtful

[cali]

‘There’s really no reason for people who care about climate to be excited about her,’ environmental activists warn amid questions from pollsters and donors

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Interviews with environmentalists, pollsters, donors and Democratic strategists reveal a deep vein of doubt over Clinton’s political will in committing to the environment, mixed with an eagerness to hear much, much more about specific policies. At the very least, they are waiting to hear her say the words “climate change” on the campaign trail, which alone might be an advantage over Republicans who would reject science in the White House.

Green activists say they are watching whether Clinton moves beyond talking vaguely about the climate – politically safe terrain for any Democratic candidate – to backing strategies that could make a difference but incur a political price, such as imposing new caps on carbon emissions or opposing the Keystone oil pipeline to run from the Canada tar sands to the Gulf Coast.

Bill McKibben, the environmentalist, author and founder of 350.org, said that in her decades in public life, Clinton had not established a strong record on climate issues. He cited her failure to lead the US to a deal at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change conference, and other episodes that have left the former secretary of state not at the forefront of the debate so much as playing catch-up.

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“Beyond saying she was initially inclined to approve it, she has never taken a position on the Keystone pipeline. She was the world’s top diplomat when the climate talks in Copenhagen fell apart. And she’s awfully cozy with big oil and gas interests. So far there’s really no reason for people who care about climate to be excited about her.”

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But Jennifer Herrington, a prominent Democratic activist in Iowa who met Clinton behind closed doors after her final public event there last week, told the Guardian the candidate had signaled that she would approach energy “from an economic standpoint” and that “doom and gloom really isn’t going to sell”.

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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/20/hillary-clinton-white-house-climate-change

Mixed messages, lip service and obfuscation.

[cali]

1. Why should I trust HRC on the environment?

Why shouldn't I look at her record and not just her vague concern rhetoric? Why should I trust her to lead on issues when she hasn't demonstrated leadership?

[cali]

3. better than any republican, but is that good enough?

The work she did pushing fracking as SoS was not a good thing.

As part of its expanded energy mandate, the State Department hosted conferences on fracking from Thailand to Botswana. It sent US experts to work alongside foreign officials as they developed shale gas programs. And it arranged for dozens of foreign delegations to visit the United States to attend workshops and meet with industry consultants—as well as with environmental groups, in some cases.

US oil giants, meanwhile, were snapping up natural gas leases in far-flung places. By 2012, Chevron had large shale concessions in Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, and South Africa, as well as in Eastern Europe, which was in the midst of a claim-staking spree; Poland alone had granted more than 100 shale concessions covering nearly a third of its territory. When the nation lit its first shale gas flare atop a Halliburton-drilled well that fall, the state-owned gas company ran full-page ads in the country's largest newspapers showing a spindly rig rising above the hills in the tiny village of Lubocino, alongside the tagline: "Don't put out the flame of hope." Politicians promised that Poland would soon break free of its nemesis, Russia, which supplies the lion's share of its gas. "After years of dependence on our large neighbor, today we can say that my generation will see the day when we will be independent in the area of natural gas," Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared. "And we will be setting terms."

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http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/hillary-clinton-fracking-shale-state-department-chevron?page=2

[cali]

4. It's earthday. Surely, HRC re the environment is of some interest.