Bernie Sanders Could Be the Greenest Presidential Candidate Ever

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/30068-bernie-sanders-could-be-the-greenest-presidential-candidate-ever

Hillary Clinton is also dedicated to climate action, but Sanders could set himself apart by calling for a clampdown on fossil fuel extraction, reports Grist

The Democratic presidential primary race got its second major candidate last week, and its first true climate hawk: Senator 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 last week 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 Sheldon Whitehouse, Senator for Rhode Island, and Jeff Merkley, Senator for Oregon. In the last Congress, he edged out Whitehouse by one point.

“Sanders is very much among the top leaders,” says RL 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.

[edgineered]

1. Skimming the title, and misreading the word greenest as greatest, was also correct! nt

[Enthusiast]

2. Me too.