Focus: Clinton and Sanders on climate change - Nov 30, 2015

According to BBC, today hundreds of thousands of people have marched worldwide to demand action to stop climate change. On the eve of the Paris international conference on climate change it is necessary to point out the differences between Clinton and Sanders on this issue. 

Hillary Clinton has recently stated her opposition to the Keystone pipeline and Arctic offshore oil and gas drilling. Also she released a plan promoting renewable energy resorces, especially solar energy. But this is not enough. Climate expert John H. Cushman Jr says: "To be transformational, Clinton's policy would have to: aim to end the uncontrolled emission of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, crack down on methane (another greenhouse gas) whether it comes from fracking natural gas or from agriculture, leave most existing reserves of fossil fuels in the ground, and put a price on carbon, either through a tax or a cap-and-trade system.” Climatologist James Hansen says that a president committed to halting climate change would implement a gradually rising fee for fossil fuel extraction, collected from the fossil fuel companies at the domestic mine or port of entry. To incentivize other countries to do the same the US would have to impose equivalent tariffs on imports from countries without a carbon fee. “You have to recognize that as long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest energy, we’ll just keep burning them,” Hansen says. So far Clinton has failed to endorse a tax on carbon emissions, which Sanders supports and many experts believe is essential if the world is to avoid a climate calamity. 

Sanders has introduced a bill which would block new leases and end non-producing leases for fossil fuels -- such as coal, oil, gas, oil shale and oil sands -- on federal land and for offshore drilling in the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. It would also completely prohibit offshore drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. Recently Clinton said she wouldn’t stop federal energy development if elected president. Her campaign manager Podesta added the government should expect to receive more royalties and tax revenue from those operations rather than stopping them altogether.

“Is Clinton Still a Carbon Candidate? I think the answer to the above question, in all fairness, has to be “Yes” until she proves otherwise. I’m open to being shown otherwise — as are we all who care about our children’s and grandchildren’s future. But the weight of evidence so far is this — under a President Clinton, no halt to carbon emissions, and no commitment to one, will be forthcoming. Does that mean she doesn’t care about climate change. No, but it does mean she won’t act effectively to prevent it." Gaius Publius: Is Clinton Still a Carbon Candidate? The Data to Date