Bernie Sanders Takes a Swipe at Biden Over Report on ‘Middle Ground’ Climate Policy Approach
Two 2020 Democratic candidates took a swipe––albeit indirectly––at former Vice President candidate Joe Biden for a report on how he’s looking to approach climate policy.
This morning Reuters reported that Biden is thinking about a “middle ground” policy approach to “appeal to both environmentalists and the blue-collar voters who elected Donald Trump”:
The backbone of the policy will likely include re-joining the United States with the Paris Climate Agreement and preserving U.S. regulations on emissions and vehicle fuel efficiency that Trump has sought to undo, according to one of the sources, Heather Zichal, who is part of a team advising Biden on climate change. She previously advised President Barack Obama.
The second source, a former energy department official also advising Biden’s campaign who asked not to be named, said the policy could also be supportive of nuclear energy and fossil fuel options like natural gas and carbon capture technology, which limit emissions from coal plants and other industrial facilities.
Senator Bernie Sanders and Governor Jay Inslee, without mentioning Biden by name, both criticized Biden over the report:
There is no “middle ground” when it comes to climate policy. If we don’t commit to fully transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels, we will doom future generations. Fighting climate change must be our priority, whether fossil fuel billionaires like it or not.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 10, 2019
Climate change is an urgent crisis. ‘Middle-ground’ approaches and half measures won’t cut it. We need a large-scale national mobilization to defeat climate change and grow millions of jobs in a clean energy economy.
— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) May 10, 2019
Biden took to Twitter this afternoon to say he believes climate change to be an “existential threat”:
I’m proud to have been one of the first to introduce climate change legislation. What I fought for in 1986 is more important than ever — climate change is an existential threat. Now. Today.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 10, 2019
We need policies that reflect this urgency. I’ll have more specifics on how America can lead on climate in the coming weeks.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 10, 2019
[image via screengrab]
