Interesting article in Mother Jones from last May on Bernie’s record. While certainly a ‘climate hawk’, his efforts have mostly been for naught, except for one passed in 2007 (when Dems held the control of the Senate) and was co-authored with Hilary Clinton (!). As this points out, the real challenge is to take back Congress, which is not likely to happen this year, unless Democrats come out in huge numbers like they did for Obama the first time. Clinton’s on again off again support of TPP (the trade pact with Pacific rim countries that threatens to undermine American environmental law) is another difference between the candidates. Blind belief in trade has made for some extraordinary gains for third world countries as well as the US (the US benefitted economically on the whole from NAFTA, while certain segments of the economy lost huge numbers of jobs, and Mexico also saw huge losses and huge gains).
- In 2007, he (Sanders) cowrote with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) the Green Jobs Act, which allocated funding for clean energy and energy efficiency research and job training. This did pass, as part of a big 2007 energy bill.
Additionally, for a view of Hilary’s record, check out the League of Women Voters. While there are some on the left that are attempting to demonize her, I would suggest that both candidates would do their best to help protect the environment, even with a Republican led Congress.
Filed under: Environmental Law, Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound |
