Joe Biden Got Grilled About a Fundraiser Hosted by a Co-Founder of a Fossil Fuel Company.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

Joe Biden Got Grilled About a Fundraiser Hosted by a Co-Founder of a Fossil Fuel Company. He Still Went to It.

Andrew Goldman helped to create Western LNG, which stands for "Liquified Natural Gas."

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pa7ae7/joe-biden-got-grilled-about-a-fundraiser-hosted-by-a-co-founder-of-a-fossil-fuel-company-he-still-went-to-it

Joe Biden faced a steady grilling over his relationship to the oil and gas industry during CNN's climate town hall Wednesday. And the next day he attended a fundraiser hosted by a guy who co-founded a fossil fuel company.

On Thursday night, the former vice president attended a big-ticket fundraiser hosted by Andrew Goldman, one of Biden’s former advisers and co-founder of Western LNG. (The “LNG” stands for “liquified natural gas,” which is a fossil fuel.) The night before, Biden was pressed during CNN’s climate forum about the fundraiser, which activists have said violates his pledge not to take money from fossil fuel executives.

As recently as last year, Goldman was listed as part of the company’s senior management team on a Canadian filing, and the company currently has plans to build a floating liquified natural gas export facility off the coast of British Columbia.

“Having a natural gas company co-founder organize a fundraiser for you clearly violates the spirit of the no fossil fuel money pledge Biden signed,” Stephen O’Hanlon, spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, told VICE News. “How can young people trust Joe Biden to tackle climate change when he's taking money from people who have made millions of dollars off the companies driving us toward an uninhabitable future?”

[wasupaloopa]

1. I lived out in the boonies on 20 acres. We used LPG. I don't know the difference between

LPG and LNG. But there were no gas lines where we lived.

What do purists think we should have done use only electricity? Our house was a manufactured house. It was set up with gas heat and appliances.

[Progressive dog]

36. We are supposed to give up using energy

unless what we use is 100% renewable and not polluting.
Gas heat is much better than oil and much much better than coal. It's also better for the environment than the average electricity available from the grid, especially for heating. In the northeast, homes that don't have gas lines mostly burn oil for heat. There is a huge infrastructure investment in existing energy sources.
We need leaders like Biden, who live in the real world that is running out of resources to feed, clothe, and house the rapidly increasing population.

[George II]

43. Little do they know what is used to produce electricity. FOSSIL FUELS!!

[stonecutter357]

2. let's go Joe !

[NurseJackie]

3. Meh.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. People whose life expectancy is more than 10 years

[BlueMississippi]

4. Who cares? nt

[zentrum]

5. The planet.

Young people.

[BlueMississippi]

6. Smart young people know

that unless Trump is defeated, there is no hope for the planet and Biden is the one who can and will defeat Trump.

[Thekaspervote]

9. You nailed it!!

[NurseJackie]

12. Thank you.

And then there are the ones who take great joy in trying to kneecap our party's eventual nominee.

[zentrum]

13. No one is taking any joy.

No one is knee capping.

It's called a primary.

We critique the top tier to make sure we've got the one who will turn out the vote.

We may need to look outside the Establishment to do that.

No joy.

[sheshe2]

35. Question?

No one is taking any joy.

No one is knee capping.

It's called a primary.

We critique the top tier to make sure we've got the one who will turn out the vote.

We may need to look outside the Establishment to do that.

What/ Who exactly is the ESTABLISHMENT that people are fond of speaking about? Who are you calling the 'Establishment"? People love to use that word. What does it mean to you.

[George II]

44. I've found that most people who throw that word around don't really know, but it's something...

....they've been trained to use.

Even the person who uses it the most probably doesn't understand the significance of the word, especially since he's been part of it for the last 30 years.

[sheshe2]

45. You may be right.

😉

[BlueMississippi]

42. No "real" Democrat would kneecap an eventual nominee

OR -- say the election was rigged by the DNC OR .. use the word "establishment" to describe a vast majority of the Democratic party.

Do you know who did those things?

[emmaverybo]

33. You made quick work of that. Simple truth.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

37. Ding ding ding, we have a winna!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[jalan48]

7. Were there any crying babies for Joe to console at the fundraiser? That's what's really important.

[Thekaspervote]

8. Let's see...how many times has this been a journal??

[sheshe2]

23. OP changed his candidate preference to Biden....

Before posting the OP to trash him....


This is not a game.

[PatrickforO]

10. I saw this. I was disappointed, but not necessarily in Biden.

First of all, I do drive, and while we try to limit our driving and plan routes to cut down carbon emissions (and gas cost), both vehicles we own are gas powered. So, I can't sit there and say Biden should NOT have gone to this.

Much of the energy that powers my home is gas and for the electrical, Xcel has phased out coal plants and right now we're nearing 70% with the goal 75% clean energy by 2022. Still, solar and wind do have carbon footprints when one considers the energy that is required to manufacture wind turbines, for instance. Or large power storage batteries. So I cannot say Biden should NOT have gone to this.

BUT, here's why I am disappointed in Biden, and more widely in the Democratic party power structure. I believe several key people in this structure see Trump as a mere aberration and have decided that when Democrats take over seats all over the US in 2020, including the presidency, it can go back to being a collegial governing process where we negotiate and compromise with big oil, big pharma, big health insurance and the MIC. Life as usual - we keep running in the red and watching while our debt goes up, our deficits go up, and the money it takes to service (pay interest) on the debt goes up until it gobbles up all but the defense budget.

My point is that what we have now is unsustainable, and those who hold power in the party must understand there is a whole new group of people out here who want aggressive action on health care, on the environment, on student debt, on international trade, on immigration.

Congress, which is supposed to be filled with people we elect that we can count on to uphold our interests, needs to begin doing that. When it is blue, and there will be no excuse for inaction, Congress needs to take aggressive action, and the person in the WH needs to make sure they are guiding us with a bold vision that calls for ACTION - action on climate change, and action on health care.

I genuinely believe, with all my heart, that if we run a 'machine' or 'establishment' candidate, we will lose because people won't be excited. The person we run has to have this bold vision and communicate it convincingly and well. Yes, it is a risk, but the middle-of-the-road is the greater risk, again in my own opinion.

It cannot be business as usual. It cannot.

So now we circle back to Biden. He's been in the game for a long time. Decades. He knows intimately how Congress works, and how compromise with lobbyists looks, so they can still make their profits while slight changes are made that can be used as political hay. That really IS the way things have happened - for decades. In fact since the end of the Second World War.

But I am a human being before I'm an American, and I'm an American before I'm a Democrat. Our party has a really good platform, which is why I belong to it, and if those we elect under the auspices of that platform DO THOSE THINGS, then great.

The party does take care of its senior members, though. Andrew Romanoff is having trouble, for instance, in Colorado. He's having trouble getting firms to help him run against Cory Gardner. Hick, who is an oil and gas guy and is basically a Libertarian/conservative Democrat (he was against legalizing weed, he allowed fracking throughout Colorado and then sent 'cease and desist' orders to local governments who wanted to impose additional regulation beside the basic regulation provided by the state, and he was responsible for some massive deregulation, some of which was damaging to consumers and to the environment).

Bottom line, if the DNC and the DCCC are doing that kind of stuff, I've got some REAL heartburn with them. Here is what is being reported in Colorado: https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/08/29/andrew-romanoff-democratic-senatorial-campaign-2020-cory-gardner/.

That's why I'm concerned. At this point, one in five Americans believe climate change is real, it is human-caused, and it is leading to a much less inhabitable planet. In other words 20% of us, as opposed to the traditional 7% or so, now want aggressive action, which means more regulation on gas and oil, not less, and more effort toward creating clean energy, including next-gen nuclear energy using up depleted plutonium as fuel in a fission process. Booker talked about that on the CNN climate change town hall.

And, lastly, you all know how I feel about health care so I won't belabor it. But I want healthcare. I want there to stop being excuses about why ALL Americans cannot have healthcare like the people in the rest of the industrialized world. Because those excuses are nothing more than rationalizations for the real reason which is that big pharma and big health insurance may lose some profit if we go to a M4All system. And politicians are afraid of the health insurance and big pharma lobbies, and because everyone knows there will be a MASSIVE effort by those profit-over-people lizards to prevent us from even getting a public option to ACA. It is about profit-over- people. THAT is the only reason why we're even having the debate.

So, no. I am a Democrat in good standing. I like this party and its platform. I like many of the people I've met on here, and in Democratic events in my state and local area. I do. BUT THE CRUNCH HAS COME AND WE NEED AGGRESSIVE ACTION NOW. Action in spite of the lobbies. That takes courage, and those we elect must necessarily have that courage.

Does Biden?

[questionseverything]

55. your opening comments were about the wrong kind of gas

you were speaking of gas made from oil this gas exec is about natural gas from fracking

I am not someone who thinks we can just stop using gasoline or natural gas but it is disappointing that biden says one thing , then does another and then somehow since the fracking founder is retired we are suppose to believe he is no longer a fossil fuel guy even tho he is still listed on the web site


when politicians and their supporters twist themselves into pretzels to explain a lie it irritates me

[Joe941]

14. This is concerning.

[George II]

15. This is funny.

[sheshe2]

16. Grilled.

They had barbecue?

[betsuni]

41. We have for you today a perfectly grilled Joe Biden, seasoned with a dry gaffe rub

and served with our sweet & tangy house-made Beholden to Big Oil barbecue sauce.

Ridiculous.

[sheshe2]

47. Lol

[sheshe2]

17. Oh Shit

I just saw your candidate choice.

The most important election in our lifetime and here you are mocking a front runner with your negative thread and a image of your 'candidate of choice' that you have made clear you hate.

Our elections are not a source of amusement. We are fighting for our lives.

To be clear to any other posters before he changes who he will vote for. He has selected Biden.

[George II]

18. Yeah, right? That was changed just minutes ago.

[sheshe2]

19. Mocking a candidate in the most important election of our lives.

I guess we get trump again. We will not survive four more years. I guess some think that this is just a game. All I ever wanted before I die is to leave our children in a better place.

I started with Harris and changed once and that was for my Senator Warren. At first I didn't think she could do. Now I know she can.

[George II]

20. It's either a game, or a joking matter, or maybe something else?

[sheshe2]

21. Maybe.

[melman]

22. Remember when you had Bernie as yours?

I do.

[George II]

24. It would not shock me if you have screen shots of that, or at least....

....photo-shopped "screen shots".

Here we go again.

[melman]

26. I'll take that as a yes

[George II]

28. Nice try, but your take would not be correct.

[melman]

31. Well here's a thread to refresh your memory then

https://www.democraticunderground.com/128711150#post15



No screenshots required!

[George II]

34. Hmmm..........

[George II]

48. I sure wish I knew why you provided a link to a six month old discussion.

[melman]

49. Because you were pretending to be scandalized by something you yourself have done

As you know.

[George II]

50. Really? Scandalized (bwahahaha!) by something I myself have done?

My posts in that thread show "Undecided". So what's your point?

[melman]

51. Look, sometimes you really have to know when to fold 'em

And this would be one of those times.


You feigned ignorance, I delivered conclusive proof you had in fact done that same thing...and that's it. It's done.



Last post on this. Have a splendid evening!

[George II]

52. No ignorance was feigned, and your "conclusive proof" wasn't. So I take it you're folding 'em.

[sheshe2]

56. ...

[melman]

57. .

[sheshe2]

58. ...

[ehrnst]

59. Folding when you have a bad hand is a skill you're getting better at.

[crazytown]

25. Grilled "during CNN's climate town hall Wednesday".

Why didn't you post about this before!

[George II]

27. It was just one question, not "grilled", and the premise of the question was debunked....

...even before Biden's segment was over a few minutes later.

[crazytown]

29. You mean the OP got it wrong?

Maybe they need to spend a couple of nights in Scotland.

[George II]

30. That would work!!!!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

38. Good question?! But, best of luck to your candidate anyway HBS.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[George II]

39. .

[revmclaren]

40. Screen shot of post

for future reference.

ONLY!!! 2019 and beyond.

[Gothmog]

46. Anderson Cooper clarified that Andrew Goldman is in fact NOT a fossil fuel exec

Link to tweet

[iamateacher]

53. Give it a break.

[Kurt V.]

54. reading this thread, it's plain to see we do not take global warming seriously enough.

[LanternWaste]

60. This is troubling for Bernie.