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As the number of days between now and COP21 diminishes, the United States presidential primaries are quickly approaching as well. As covered in our most recent blog, candidates from one party are campaigning with climate change solutions as a significant part of their platforms. The other party, however, is not as interested.
Still, a presidential race is more about the future than it is about the past and many voters are more concerned about each candidate’s plans than their track record. NextGen Climate, a political activism group, is leading the fight against climate change by suggesting that our candidates set the goals of 50% clean energy by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2050 (a recent poll found that 69% of Americans support this proposal). Martin O’Malley is the most on-board with NextGen Climate’s suggestions as he has made the demand for 100% clean energy by 2050 one of the key components of his platform. Bernie Sanders has also worked with this timeline, having co-sponsored the comprehensive “gold standard” climate bill aiming to reduce GHG emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Governor O’Malley and Senator Sanders have each suggested implementing a carbon price, denying permits for arctic and off-shore drilling, and creating clean energy jobs. O’Malley’s plan continues further by suggesting a zero-tolerance policy for methane leaks, a phase-out of fossil fuels, and stronger carbon regulations. Hillary Clinton, like the other candidates, seems to love the year 2050 but has not given an official figure in relation to it, saying she will “achieve deep emission reductions” by then. Her specific goals include more than half a billion solar panels across the country by the end of her first term and generating enough renewable energy to power every home in America within 10 years of when she would take office. Secretary Clinton still has yet to release her official policy outlining her plans for doing this.
You check out each candidate's official policy below:
Hillary Clinton: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/climate/ Martin O'Malley: https://martinomalley.com/policy/clean-energy-future/ and https://martinomalley.com/climate/agenda/ Bernie Sanders: http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-climate-change/ More Sources Used: http://www.ontheissues.org/Hillary_Clinton.htm https://nextgenclimate.org/ http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/martin-omalley-calls-100-clean-energy-2050 http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/28/3684667/omalley-vs-clinton-vs-sanders-climate-plans/
6 Comments
Jasmine Miranda
22/11/2015 01:55:18 pm
It's really important for the potential leaders of our country to want to take action in all forms in the United States. Protecting the Earth, trying to help the environment, and recognizing the fact that if we don't start to worry about how we're treating the environment- we'll be in big trouble are really important things our leader should be aware of. It's really good news to hear so many of the presidential candidates speaking out about the issues we have, and actually listening to the scientists and experts in this field. If our leaders don't do something about climate change, we will be facing many problems in the near future.
William Warren
25/11/2015 03:10:40 am
I agree that many undecided voters do not take into consideration the past of the candidates as much as they should. However, saying that your going to act upon something obviously does not mean that it will actually happen. It is very important that these political leaders are taking much deliberation into how to important it is protect our environment. These actions that they are proposing are good for the public to understand which could potentially change the thoughts of our society and our actions upon the environment which could benefit our planet in the future.
Cathy
29/11/2015 09:43:48 am
It gives me hope to hear that presidential candidates are giving climate change a spotlight. Their past initiatives and potential plans are outstanding, however, these promises should be more definite and not flimsy. A focus on climate change should be a notable priority for our potential leader. We should not be worried that they might not focus on climate change when they are in office because they it should be a requirement. Our leaders advocate our needs and prosperity. Therefore, we the people are responsible for projecting our concerns about climate change. In short, the process of change is initiated when we demand and overcome.
Kahvi
29/11/2015 08:24:44 pm
I believe that all presidential candidates should include their plan and outlook on solving global warming. Many simply just state a vague idea of what they would do help prevent global warming, but just like everything else they say, many don't mean what they say. Personally, I think they all need to explain more about the topic and talk more about it as well, because global warming is a big, if not bigger issue than the other issues that we always here them talking about. They have the power to really make a change on global warming.
tyler
4/12/2015 05:20:15 am
i do think its a big problem but we have more important problems then climate. We have citys burning and people dying we have more important issue to handle. Leave a Reply. |
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Photo used under Creative Commons from Noel Feans
