Hill's Group: Hillary Clinton’s Green Evolution
http://billmoyers.com/story/hillary-clintons-green-evolution/
Good piece from the wonderful Bill Moyers website.
With Super Tuesdays primary returns and caucus results now tallied, commentators are declaring that Bernie Sanders faces a tougher path to victory than ever. But even if the Vermont senator does not become the nominee this summer, his campaign, combined with the efforts of environmental groups such as 350.org, Sierra Club and Greenpeace, has already had an enormous impact on the conversation Democrats are having around climate.
Last spring, Hillary Clinton launched her campaign with a fairly strong environmental platform especially compared with past Democrats who won the nomination. Shortly afterward, Bernie Sanders rolled out a far more aggressive agenda, including bans on fossil fuel extraction on public lands and via offshore drilling, and a complete ban on fracking. Sure, his plan was impractical, given a likely Republican Congress, but it drew the battle lines.
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Environmental groups are continuing to push Clinton further, with activists popping up at campaign stops, cellphone cameras rolling, ready to get her on the record. When, on Feb. 4, one New Hampshire activist asked, Would you ban the extraction of oil, gas and coal on public lands? Clinton immediately replied, Thats a done deal. It was a stance she hadnt taken before.
And when, last Thursday, at a South Carolina rally, Carolina Arias, a University of North Carolina student, asked whether Clinton would make sure we do not support trade deals that exacerbate climate change, Clinton indicated that her priority would be strengthening the Paris accords, not renegotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which she has already condemned, or pushing the similar Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which she has not.