Clinton/Sanders - Fracking, XL Pipeline and Fossil Fuels

Dear Friends,

Hillary Clinton continues to refuse to say what her stand is on the XL Pipeline.  Bernie Sanders has been an outspoken critic of the pipeline for years.  Hillary Clinton has not spoken recently about fracking but when she was Secretary of State she was promoting fracking technology around the world.  Bernie Sanders believes that fracking should be banned.

If you like President Obama's positions on fossil fuels, climate change, fracking, the XL Pipeline and alternative energy promotion, then you will like Hillary Clinton's positions as well.  Senator Clinton has an all of the above energy policy.

• She believes that humans are causing climate change and that we must act.
• She has supported President Obama's efforts to limit carbon emissions.
• She continues to support the use of fossil fuels, but has spoken generally about limiting the subsidies fossil fuels receive.
• She supports alternative energy subsidies.
• She rationalizes fracking with a better than coal argument.  
• She supported increased drilling off the coasts of the United States.  
• Her voting record in the Senate suggests that she opposes drilling in the Arctic, but she has not commented on Arctic drilling as a new Presidential candidate, and specifically she has not commented on the Obama Administration moving ahead to permit Shell to drill in the Arctic.
• She refuses to comment on the XL Pipeline, but supported it as Secretary of State.
• She acknowledges that clean coal is a possibility.

Senator Sanders positions are very clear and very much opposed to fossil fuels.

• He believes that humans are causing climate change and that we must act.
• He has supported President Obama's efforts to limit carbon emissions, but has also introduced significant legislation to force reductions.
• He clearly wants to eliminate fossil fuels eventually and has proposed legislation to eliminate all subsidies for them.
• He has a long list of legislation that he has introduced and supported promoting alternative and sustainable energy sources.
• He has proposed a ban on fracking.
• He opposed drilling off the Atlantic Coast.
• He opposes drilling in the Arctic.
• He opposes the XL Pipeline.
• He would end all subsidies for coal.

In my view on these issues, Senator Clinton is far better than all the Republican candidates for President, but Senator Sanders is much closer to my own view on these issues.  Senator Clinton will call herself a pragmatist.  Once again on these issues, I would say that she is a very slow incrementalist that will wait until she will not get too much criticism or anger her political and foundation donors too much by protecting the environment.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal