Bernie Sanders out-greens Hillary Clinton: Will she be able to hold her own in a climate hawk runoff

[DonViejo]

Bernie Sanders out-greens Hillary Clinton: Will she be able to hold her own in a climate hawk runoff?

How much greener than Clinton is Sanders? And does it matter?

LINDSAY ABRAMS

Now that President Obama has established that the executive branch can and should take a strong stance on climate change, it’s safe to say emissions reductions and the like are key issues for the Democratic candidates vying to be his successor. (In the Republican primaries, calling climate change a hoax or just ignoring the problem completely continues, somehow, to be acceptable.) And as Bernie Sanders gains early momentum for his decidedly left-of-center campaign, a big question is whether Hillary Clinton’s climate platform can compete.

As far as most issues are concerned, there’s a bit of an “anything you can do, I can do better” dynamic between the Democratic frontrunner and the democratic socialist nipping at her heels. Both, to be sure, can boast of their impressive environmental records — but while Clinton has a respectable 82 percent lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters, Sanders’ is 95 percent, and the super PAC Climate Hawks Vote named him the 113th Congress’s top climate leader. As the primaries heat up, the differences between them just might illustrate the vast gulf between someone who hits the right talking points and someone who understands the true scope of what’s needed to prevent catastrophic climate change (in a word: everything).

Vox’s David Roberts argues that in our current political climate, the difference between their platforms might not matter much. “No president — not Clinton, not Sanders, not the risen Christ — could persuade the House GOP to pass aggressive restrictions on carbon,” he writes. Then again, President Obama may not have Congress on his side, but he’s managed to do a whole lot for climate action anyway. Where he’s proved to be a disappointment has been in weighing the grave risks associated with climate change on the one hand while waving Shell on to drill in the Arctic with the other. If America’s going to lead the world in fighting climate change, it’s going to need an executive branch ready to nix pipeline projects, to shut down oil wells and to use the EPA to rein in as much carbon emissions as possible. Even if Sanders can’t nudge Clinton to the left on climate issues, he, along with Democratic contender Martin O’Malley, can at least show voters what a truly Green platform looks like. (And if they can, as Roberts suggests, make Clinton look centrist by comparison well, that’s not so bad either.)

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/03/bernie_sanders_out_greens_hillary_clinton_will_she_be_able_to_hold_her_own_in_a_climate_hawk_runoff/

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

1. Zero chance of that, but then, maybe Hillary's handlers can poll test a few environmentalist talking points & come up with a few cool sounds bites.

[madokie]

4. As sad as that sounds

it seems to be so true

Feel the Bern

[BrotherIvan]

2. She IS a centrist

Why would anyone pretend that she's not. I have been told many times on DU that's why she's the only one who can win. Ok, then she should embrace her record and her stances and run on them.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. Hillary supports FRACKING!

Bernie and Martin don't

The debates on the environment should be interesting

[elleng]

5. Thus far no other candidate has said they're going to make climate change their top priority except

Martin O'Malley has not only done that, but he has outlined a plan that would enact emissions reductions in line with what scientists say is necessary to slow global climate change—worldwide emissions reductions of 40-70 percent by 2050—and he's the only candidate to do that, too. His plan would phase out fossil-fueled power plants altogether, by midcentury. Along with the USA Today op-ed, he released a white paper further outlining his scheme."

‪#?OMalley2016‬ ‪#?NewLeadership‬ ‪#?CleanEnergy‬

We should incentivize production of clean energy—it's better for our environment & consumers.

- Martin O'Malley

https://martinomalley.com/climate/iowa/