by Rona Fried
If you look at what’s important to the environmental community, you can’t help but notice this is exactly what Bernie Sanders proposes in his platform and legislation he’s introduced throughout his career:
- a quick and complete shift to 100% renewable energy – no half measures
- massive investments in energy efficiency
- a carbon tax
- a ban on fracking in the US
- no more fossil fuel extraction from public lands; no more dirty pipeline infrastructure
- ban offshore oil drilling and oil and gas exports; ban mountaintop coal mining and place a moratorium on nuclear energy
- an end to fossil fuel subsidies
- move our transportation sector beyond oil through electric vehicles and mass transit, including high-speed rail. Increase fuel economy standards to 65 miles per gallon by 2025, catching up to Europe and Japan.
- real protection and expansion of our public lands for wildlife and biodiversity
- ousting conventional agriculture (ie Monsanto) and fossil lobbyists
- a transition to sustainable agriculture and away from GMO and subsidies for big ag companies
- resources and attention to climate change that treat it as the emergency it is.
Sanders views climate change as the "single greatest threat facing our planet" at a time when it’s still not viewed that way by most of the public. He’s correct, of course, and has the nerve to state it.
He’s also correct when he says the reason the US hasn’t taken the level of action necessary on climate change is: a "small subsection of the 1% are hell-bent on doing everything in their power to block action."
That’s why reversing Citizen’s United and getting big money out of politics is so important, he says.
Sanders views a transition to a green economy as we do: the opportunity for new industries to rise that will bring us the next "industrial" revolution, but this time creating tens of milions of well-paying jobs … that do not foul our environment and peoples’ health.
Bernie strongly favors organic agriculture. He co-sponsored legislation to nationally label foods that contain GMOs and wants Monsanto et. al. out of the way.
And he would nominate Supreme Court justices that reinforce the direction our economy needs to go.
Bernie says:
"Right now, we have an energy policy that is rigged to boost the profits of big oil companies like Exxon, BP, and Shell at the expense of average Americans. The wealthiest industry in the history of our planet has bribed politicians into complacency in the face of climate change."
"Enough is enough. It’s time to take on the fossil fuel billionaires, accelerate our transition to clean energy, and finally put people before the profits of polluters."
"What the scientists tell us is that we have a relatively short window of opportunity to bring about the fundamental changes that we need in our global energy system. It is absolutely vital that we do what many economists tell us we must, and that is put a price on carbon. It is the simplest and most direct way to make the kind of cuts in carbon pollution we need to successfully transition away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy."
Climate Protection and Justice Act of 2015
Introduced in Congress last year, this bill sets enforceable targets to reduce emissions from 1990 levels: 40% by 2030, and over 80% by 2050.
A tax on carbon on fossil fuel producers and importers starts at $15 per ton in 2017 and rises to $73 per ton by 2035, adding another 5% a year after that.
The proceeds would go to households making less than $100,000 a year (80% of US families) to offset any rate hikes by fossil fuels companies. They are significant – a rebate of about $900 in 2017, growing to $1900 in 2030.
It also provides $20 billion a year to the most vulnerable communities for climate resiliency projects; implements a "green tariff" that funds improvements in industrial energy efficiency; and programs that help farms move to sustainable practices and renewable energy.
While Hillary Clinton strongly supports much of Bernie’s platform, she would never go as far, and Republicans are a joke. Trump, for example, says climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese to kill US manufacturing.
Bernie was there at the historic Peoples’ Climate March, where were Hillary and Obama?
Read our articles, Presidential Candidates: Archie Bunker, Head versus Heart.
One Senator Says: We Must Choose Renewables And Give Fossil Fuels the Boot and learn about Bernie’s climate bills introduced in 2013.
Here is Bernie’s Climate Platform:
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