Unfortunately, I need to say this up front, at this moment I have not chosen a candidate for the primary battles. In fact, I avoid the Bernie and Hillary diaries like the plague. Since I am a "glass half empty" voter I find fault with both Hillary and Bernie in how they will implement policy by going around the Republicans in congress. I do have candidate preferences though , but none of the candidates that I wish were running are. That is my dilemma. I supported Obama from the very beginning and I still do, though there have been decisions made that have angered me such as Arctic drilling and exploratory drilling in the GoM and the Atlantic. I am hoping that the international environmental foundation that he has laid over the last year or so building up to the Paris talks is a Climate Change game changer. Dare we hope that a plan of significance happens in December?
If I have posted old news here I apologize to any Diarists that had already posted it an apology. I have not seen any discussion on this news on this site, so I dump this issue right on the Kos kitchen table for everybody to see.
In this report out of New Hampshire, in a one-on-one interview with NH1 News , Hillary Clinton stated she disagrees with the President on Arctic drilling, and specifically on the decision to grant permits to Shell oil to drill in the Chukchi in Alaska. A decision that has a 75% probability of a major oil spill in the fragile arctic ocean.
Here is Clinton’s interview with NH1 News:
NH1 News: “Since you’ve been coming up to New Hampshire back in April, you’ve been talking a lot about the heroin epidemic, which is very bad up here and getting worse. You mentioned today you have people studying it. Is there anything you can share about what you would do as president to help alieve the problem here in New Hampshire?”HC: “Well first of all I think recognizing there’s a terrible problem, there’s an epidemic of heroin and the overdoses that are killing primarily young people, a lot of our veterans and others who are seeking relief, often times because they got hooked on opiates and are now buying cheap heroin, deserve more attention and more help. I will be coming back to New Hampshire and laying out some ideas that we are collecting from people here in the state, because I think it’s as serious a problem as you can find and I don’t think enough attention is being given to it.”
NH1 News: “A supporter today of the Keystone pipeline asking you for a yes or no answer. You’ve been very clear about why you are not giving a yes or no answer, until the president decides. The president has decided on another controversial issue and that’s drilling in the Arctic. In fact just in the last week he gave the OK for Shell to start some exploratory drilling just 70 miles off the coast of Alaska. Good idea? Bad Idea? And if you were president would you continue that?”
HC: “I have doubts about whether we should continue drilling in the Arctic. And I don’t think it is a necessary part of our overall clean energy climate change agenda. I will be talking about drilling in general but I am skeptical about whether we should give the go ahead to drill in the Arctic.”
NH1 News: Starting on Sunday you’ve been presenting some of your thoughts on climate change and a major part of that is solar. In your comments, in your video on Sunday you said ‘all Americans are going to have to do their part.’ And I’m wondering what that specifically means for New Hampshire. It’s hard to tell today, it’s 90 degrees, but it’s cold here in the winter and we have some of the highest energy costs in America. Would your ideas, your proposals, mean higher energy costs for New Hampshire residents?”
HC: ”No. If New Hampshire is like the other states that have been pioneering wind, and geo-thermal and solar, and advanced bio fuels, it should save both homeowners and business owners money. There are some front end investments and I want to do more in terms of helping people make those investments so that they can recover their costs. But I came from Iowa. Thirty percent of their energy now comes from wind. They’re also advancing quickly with solar and advanced bio fuels. I want to work with people in New Hampshire to try and figure out what’s the right mix here. But it’s clear that we have to do something in New Hampshire because the costs of relying on tradition energy sources are no longer sustainable for the environment or for those who have to pay the bills.”
She only revealed her position on it because she was asked about it. But where was she before the decision was made to drill? Could she have influenced Obama not to issue the permits. I guess we will never know. But welcome news none the less. Climate change is my issue, I am waiting to hear from all the candidates in a debate about how we keep the oil and coal in the ground as well as the Paris talks. I believe that in the Democratic primary, at least, climate change positions need to be flushed out with many tough follow up questions for our candidates.