Hillary Clinton Says She Would Phase Out Fossil Fuel Drilling On Public Lands — Just Not Yet
At a city corridor occasion in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton turned the newest presidential candidate to wrestle with what ought to be executed about fossil gasoline extraction on public lands. Elaine Colligan, a 350.org Action Fellow, requested Clinton “will you commit to banning fossil fuel extraction on public lands in this country … yes or no will you ban this?”
Clinton struck a average tone — not committing to a direct halt to fossil gasoline extraction on public lands, however voicing help for phasing it out over time.
“The answer is not until we got the alternatives in place, and that may not be a satisfactory answer to you but I think I would have to take the responsible answer,” she stated. “I am 100 percent in favor of accelerating the development of solar, wind, advanced biofuels, energy efficiency, everything we can do. And I would hope that we could get to the point that you made which is looking at the public lands and cutting back over time, phasing out the extraction of fossil fuels.”
One phrase local weather hawks have been listening for there was “deployment.” Most individuals help accelerating the event of renewable fuels. The key to the local weather disaster is the deployment of these low-carbon fuels that exist already, are already low cost, and may already assist shift the world away from local weather catastrophe. The purpose she couldn’t decide to a ban, Clinton stated, is that fossil fuels are nonetheless required to offer electrical energy and gasoline transportation.
“We still have to run the economy, we still have to turn on the lights, we still have to make sure that businesses operate,” she continued. “So I want to do as much as I can as quickly as I can to make this energy transition. But I could not responsibly say to you that I could automatically stop the source of fossil fuels right away without having a substitute in order to keep the economy going, to keep people employed, to keep the lights on.”
The largest supply of greenhouse fuel emissions within the United States comes from coal produced from public lands.
One choice for the interim, she stated, was to “get more money to fight climate change from those who are doing the extracting” — which might imply growing coal royalties, pricing carbon, or different financial choices.
When requested for additional touch upon how Clinton would part out fossil gasoline extraction on public lands, a spokesperson for Clinton’s marketing campaign informed AssumeProgress the marketing campaign would let her feedback in New Hampshire stand alone.
Clinton’s feedback have been just like these from Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who earlier this yr said that it’s potential for her division, which manages public lands, to permit fracking and different power extraction whereas supporting administration efforts to fight local weather change.
“How many of you burned no fossil fuels today?” she requested an viewers in April on the Center for American Progress. “Nobody of course…the reality is we are an economy that is dependent on fossil fuels, and the federal state is an important source of resources for us.”
Later through the city corridor, Giselle Hart, an activist and scholar on the University of New Hampshire, requested Clinton if her place on local weather change and fossil fuels was influenced by the marketing campaign contributions she acquired from fossil gasoline pursuits. According to the Huffington Post, almost all the lobbyists bundling cash for Clinton’s marketing campaign labored for the fossil gasoline business at one time or one other.
Clinton stated no, and returned to the unique query. “I know what the right answer in terms of getting votes would have been,” she stated, referring to taking a extra hard-line stance on fossil gasoline improvement on public lands.
About 10 different activists stood up and commenced chanting “act on climate” earlier than being escorted to the nook of the corridor to carry up a banner studying “ban extraction on public land.” The motion was emblematic of the freewheeling nature of main marketing campaign city halls, and earned loads of protection.
“I totally respect the passion and the urgency,” Clinton stated. “We have a lot of work to do.”
A number of days in the past, a University of New Hampshire scholar requested former Maryland Governor and Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley if he would permit fossil gasoline extraction on public lands. O’Malley was extra supportive.
“No, I would not be inclined to allow fossil fuel extraction on public lands,” O’Malley responded, in accordance with a marketing campaign transcript. “I am very much opposed to drilling off the Atlantic Coast and disagreed with the President very strongly on that. I was opposed to the Keystone Pipeline and I remain opposed to it.”
A spokesperson for Bernie Sanders’ marketing campaign didn’t reply to a request for remark. He has not spoken up about fossil gasoline extraction on public lands, aside from calling for a drilling moratorium offshore following the BP spill. Sanders doesn’t settle for cash from firms, has launched a number of complete local weather payments, in addition to laws to chop subsidies to the fossil gasoline business. In 2007, he and then-Senator Clinton co-wrote the Green Jobs Act, which handed into regulation and funded analysis and job coaching for clear power and power effectivity.
Not everybody was comfortable about Clinton’s response to the general public lands query. Meteorologist and Slate author Eric Holthaus referred to as it a a “frustrating response,” and stated Clinton is “NOT a climate hawk.”
“It’s heartening to see Hillary Clinton affirm the importance of phasing out fossil fuel extraction — this is a clear sign that politicians are taking notice of the growing movement demanding action on climate change,” Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesman for 350.org, advised AssumeProgress. “Still, her words today suggest that Secretary Clinton is still stuck in the past, when you had to choose between the economy and the environment. That’s just not true anymore.”
“If Hillary Clinton’s serious about tackling climate change, she needs to be bold, show us a plan, and stop looking at this as a trade-off,” he continued.
Later, Clinton described local weather change as an “existential threat” and instructed that the Republican candidates who say they’re not scientists take heed to scientists, as she has prior to now. She lamented some states’ “really poorly thought-out plans” to stop various power from attending to the grid, and applauded President Obama’s technique to deal with local weather change by way of government authority.
“Hopefully we can get to the point where we develop something like a consensus in this country,” she continued. “And here’s what really upsets me, is the people who are against doing something on climate change have no alternative. It’s just more of the same. And it’s just ‘keep doing it, keep doing what we’re doing now.’ That is a losing policy.”
Republican presidential candidates have taken the other tack on public lands, with Sen. Ted Cruz pushing for the federal government to public sale off public lands final yr within the senate. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) advised voters in Nevada that whereas states ought to take again public lands from the “bully” federal authorities, “private ownership would be even better.”
“We are seeing two entirely different conversations about public lands in the two primaries,” Matt Lee-Ashley, a senior fellow on the Center for American Progress, advised AssumeProgress. “On one side, candidates are talking about how they would privatize or auction off national forests and public lands to benefit oil companies and mining companies. On the other side, candidates are for the first time talking about the need to reform fossil fuels management on public lands, deliver a fairer return to taxpayers from development, and transition to cleaner energy supplies.”