Who will fight global warming?

Dear Friends,

For reasons that are incomprehensible to me, President Obama has given Shell approval to drill in the Arctic.  After the approval was announced, Hillary Clinton broke her silence on the issue and said that permitting Shell to drill in the Arctic was not worth the risk.  Bernie Sanders has long opposed drilling in the Arctic.

Hillary Clinton is right that permitting Shell to drill in the Arctic is not worth the risk.  However, the more important reason for not permitting Shell to drill in the Arctic is that we need to move away from fossil fuels now not gradually over decades as fossil fuel reserves are drawn down.  We must leave most of the already know reserves in the ground.  We do not need to find new ones.  We need to focus on alternative renewable green energy.

An editorial in The Guardian (here) ends with this paragraph which I think is perfect.

This is depressing evidence of a reluctance to tackle the biggest challenge of keeping the increase in global temperatures below two degrees. Since March, the Guardian has been campaigning to persuade investors that ultimately the majority of known fossil fuel reserves will have to be left in the ground. That requires a revolution not just in thinking now, but in the way we understand economic development. It can no longer be a question of exploitation of resources. Now sustainable economies must be built on a deliberate exercise in forgoing them. Every time a new area of fossil fuel exploitation is opened up, even if it is shale gas which appears less polluting than coal or oil, the risk is that the transition drifts a little further downstream. The Obama decision on Arctic drilling on the face of it is wrong because it jeopardises a unique environment. But it is even worse than that. It is another barrier to a change on which a sustainable future depends.

I think it is important to assess our Presidential candidates on whether or not they understand what the Guardian editorial is saying.  Since all of the Republican candidates are still focused on drill baby drill, I can exclude them from this analysis.  I will focus on Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

It is clear that Bernie Sanders understands that we need to stop drilling and focus on alternative fuels. He was one of 18 Senators that sent President Obama a letter urging him to deny Shell the right to drill.  The following is a quote from that letter:

Opening development on a new fossil fuel reservoir in the Arctic not only puts the natural resources, ecosystems and the dependent communities at risk, it also contradicts the President’s Climate Action Plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions and reduce climate change. It is an unacceptable and irresponsible decision,

In addition to the letter, Bernie Sanders issued a statement saying:

At a time when our planet is warming due to climate change, the last thing our environment needs is more drilling. What we need is for Congress and the White House to move toward clean energy such as solar, wind and biomass.

While Hillary Clinton has said drilling in the Arctic is not worth the risk and that she would dramatically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, she has never made it clear that she understands that we need to stop drilling.  She has good plans for incentivizing alternative fuels, but they are vague at this time.  And then there is her refusal to take a position on the Keystone XL Pipeline.  An article in The New York Times (here) contains this quote which is a great summary of where Hillary Clinton is at this point in time.

"Hillary Clinton is just half the way there,” said Bill McKibben, head of the group 350.org, which has led the grass-roots movement calling for Mr. Obama to reject the Keystone pipeline. “This is a credible commitment to renewable energy, and a recognition that the economics of electricity are changing fast. Now, we need Clinton to show she understands the other half of the climate change equation — and prove she has the courage to stand up against fossil fuel projects like offshore and Arctic drilling, coal leasing in the Powder River basin, and the Keystone XL pipeline.”

Climate change is an existential issue for the earth and all of its inhabitants.  We need leaders who are bold and passionate about stopping global warming.  We need to end our reliance on fossil fuels now and that means no more approvals for fossil fuel projects.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Bernie Sanders for President

Dear Friends,

Bernie Sanders is my choice for President of the United States.  His policies are exactly what this country and the world need now.  The media, many pundits and a number of my friends say he cannot be elected, he is too far left, he is a socialist and he is impractical.  I want to encourage everybody, including the media, to look beyond labels and examine his policies and positions.  Since I believe his policies are the ones that we need now, I intend to work for his election.

Bernie Sanders is not new to his positions.  He has been espousing them for years.  They are not focus group tested policies.  They are what he truly believes.  In the weeks to come, I will focus more on the policies in detail.  For now, these are just summaries of some of his positions and policies that I think are great.

Democracy

Our democracy is being destroyed by big money and voter suppression.  Bernie Sanders has been clear that we need to stand up to the billionaire class who are spending billions of dollars to impose their will on the country.  That is not democracy.  We need to reverse the Citizens United case and provide for government funding of campaigns.  Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for both of these positions.    We also need to stop the Republican efforts at voter suppression.  Bernie Sanders wants to reinstate the provisions of the Voting Rights Act that require pre-approval of voting rights changes in states with histories of racial discrimination.

Economic Justice

Bernie Sanders, along with Elizabeth Warren, is at the forefront of the movement for economic justice - imposing higher taxes on the rich, having a $15 an hour minimum wage, increasing workers' wages, rebuilding the infrastructure of this country providing thousands of middle class jobs, providing better educational opportunities, focusing on increasing the incomes and opportunities for the poor and middle class, and the list goes on and on.

Bernie Sanders is an outspoken critic of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other similar "trade" agreements that are negotiated in secret by the government with the help of big business but with no input from economic justice advocates or environmentalists.

Racial Justice

Bernie Sanders has issued a detailed plan to work to eliminate institutional racism in this country, including police and criminal justice reforms.  In addition, all of his economic justice initiatives will help alleviate the lack of economic racial justice in the country.

Privacy

Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for protecting the privacy of the American people from government spying.

Women's Rights

Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for women's rights and has been for years.  As mayor of Burlington, VT he passed some of the first legislation to advocate for women's economic rights and he has always been a strong supporter of women's health care rights.

Foreign Policy

Bernie Sanders voted against President Bush's Iraq war and has been consistently in favor of diplomacy over military action.  He is in favor of the Iraq nuclear agreement.  When Bernie Sanders says that war should be the last resort, he means it.

Environment

Bernie Sanders is and has always been an environmental activist.  He is opposed to fracking and the Keystone XL Pipeline and other environmentally dangerous fossil fuel development.  He is a long time supporter of alternative energy options.

Regulating Capitalism

Bernie Sanders understands that capitalism must be regulated.  If left alone the market will destroy capitalism and create an oligarchy as we have seen in recent years.  He is in favor of breaking up the banks that are too big to fail and curbing the abuses of Wall Street and making sure that all businesses have to account for all the costs of their activities including pollution, paying wages so low the government must subsidize the workers, etc.

Immigration

Bernie Sanders has been criticized by some progressives for his immigration position.  While his immigration position is more complicated and nuanced than other Democrats, I think it is very consistent with his guiding principles.  He supports immediately bringing all undocumented people out of the shadows and giving them a real path to citizenship.  He is, however, not in favor of many of the open border and guest worker programs.  His overriding concern is to protect American workers.  If anybody thinks that Republicans and big business want guest worker programs and more legal immigration because they are concerned about providing opportunities to immigrants, they are crazy.  They want those programs for an ongoing supply of cheap labor.  That is the reason that Bernie Sanders has objected to those programs.  Ultimately, he voted for the 2013 immigration reform bill but only after he was able to secure an amendment that provided significant funds for jobs for American workers.  Immigration is important to our success as a country, but we should not bring people here to be cheap labor.  We should bring people here because they want to come and be full participants in our country which will make us a better country.

Education

Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for education.  Consistent with his core beliefs, we will not be able to achieve economic justice, to reduce the wealth and income gaps between the rich and the poor, to eliminate institutional racism, to compete in the global economy or to achieve economic prosperity for all without a great educational system.  That system has to be truly available to all at no cost.  Bernie Sanders is the leading proponent of making college free and affordable.

Healthcare

Bernie Sanders has been pushing for a universal single payer health system for years.  We are the only developed country in the world that views healthcare as a privilege not a right.  While for those that can pay, we have a great healthcare system.  The system overall costs significantly more than in other developed countries and has significantly poorer results.

I look forward to more detailed discussions of the issues in this election and whether or not Bernie Sanders has the best policies and positions.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal