Is Bernie Sanders the Best Candidate on Climate Change?

[Jefferson23]

He was recently ranked as the Senate's top leader on global warming.

—By Ben Adler
| Thu May 14, 2015 6:15 AM

This article originally appeared in Grist and is republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

The Democratic presidential primary race got its second major candidate recently, and its first true climate hawk: Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, self-described democratic socialist. Sanders has one of the strongest climate change records in the Senate. In fact, according to rankings released by Climate Hawks Vote, a new super PAC, Sanders was the No. 1 climate leader in the Senate for the 113th Congress that ended in January.

Climate Hawks Vote measures leadership, not just voting records, tabulating actions like bills introduced, speeches given, and so forth. In the 112th Congress, Sanders ranked third behind Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). In the last Congress, he edged out Whitehouse by one point.

"Sanders is very much among the top leaders," says R.L. Miller, founder of Climate Hawks Vote. "He has a record of really strong advocacy for solar in particular." Miller notes that distributed solar, which enables everyone with a solar panel to create their own energy instead of relying on a monopolistic utility company, fits especially well with Sanders' democratic socialist philosophy. It's bad for corporations and good for regular folks who get to own the means of production.

Here are some of the highlights from Sanders' climate and clean energy record:

In 2013, along with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sanders introduced the Climate Protection Act, a fee-and-dividend bill. It would tax carbon and methane emissions and rebate three-fifths of the revenue to citizens, then invest the remainder in energy efficiency, clean energy, and climate resiliency. The bill, of course, went nowhere (even if it had advanced in the Democratic-controlled Senate, it would have been DOA in the Republican-controlled House), but it shows that Sanders supports serious solutions and wants to keep the conversation going.

in full:http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/05/bernie-sanders-greenest-presidential-candidate

[elleng]

1. Probably not.

Mother Jones magazine called Martin O'Malley the best candidate on environmental issues, a while ago. (He's about to declare, planning an announcement May 30.)

Article here:
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/12/martin-omalley-longshot-presidential-candidate-and-real-climate-hawk

[Jefferson23]

2. Hey, elleng, I like that each are great, if O'Malley is top dog in that arena...awesome.

Congrats to him for entering the race.

[elleng]

3. Yes, I'm pleased that both are great,

and happy he's entering the race, Jefferson23.