Environmental issues have taken somewhat of a backseat throughout this primary but as the race heats up in NY, one of only two states that has banned fracking, the issue is getting more attention. An article in today’s NYT highlights the point that fractivists are not comfortable with Hillary’s refusal to ban fracking:
A nasty row that erupted between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sandersover oil and gas industry donors last week is catapulting the issue ofclimate change into the race for the Democratic presidential nomination as it moves to New York, where an army of activists upstate is driven by opposition to drilling. www.nytimes.com/...
The imminent dangers of fracking are well documented. From toxic water to man made earthquakes, any form of fracking poses serious dangers to the planet. The fracking fall out puts millions at risk and will do irreversible damage to the planet.
Bernie Sanders not only introduced the most comprehensive climate change legislation in history, he unequivocally opposes fracking. Hillary does not oppose it but suggests that “safe and responsible fracking” is possible. This is a misguided position which defies science. Further, placing trust in corporations to strictly follow and monitor their own procedures is naive at best or perhaps better described as having the fox guard the hen house.
Hillary has moved somewhat to the left on this issue from the pressure of the Bernie Sanders campaign and left progressives , but just last week, her “composure slipped” when a green peace activist confronted her on taking funds from the fossil fuel lobby to the tune of 4.5 million in contributions — either through her campaign or her SuperPAC — from lobbyists for the fossil-fuel industry.
Last week, her mask of composure slipped when she angrily replied to a Greenpeace activist in Purchase, N.Y., “I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me.”
Climate change is a powerful issue for voters in the Democratic base almost everywhere. But it has especially inspired grass-roots progressives in upstate New York, who fought — and won — a yearslong battle against fracking for natural gas.
Even after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo banned fracking statewide in 2014, many activists — who call themselves fractivists — remain on the front lines of climate fights, and many are skeptical about Mrs. Clinton because of views she held in the Obama administration and earlier, as a New York senator from 2001 to 2008.
Concerned about her prospects upstate, she plans a heavy schedule of campaigning in the region before the April 19 primary, realizing she can no longer count on voters there as confidently as when she earned their support in her two Senate races, when she focused largely on economic issues.
“We now have literally thousands of fractivists who are battle-tested, who understand the politics of these issues,” said Walter Hang, an activist in Ithaca, N.Y. “And they have zero inclination to give away their vote without firm commitments.”
Both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns are said to have studied the progressive Democratic primary challenge to Mr. Cuomo two years ago by Zephyr Teachout, an unknown law professor who won a surprising 33 percent by challenging Mr. Cuomo from the left, partly by highlighting her staunch opposition to fracking
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Alarmed by reports of potentially catastrophic polar ice melting and other disruptions, many environmentalists believe only a rapid transition to renewable energy is acceptable.
“We’re in the middle of a climate emergency, and have to keep all the fossil fuels in the ground,” said Sandra Steingraber, a scholar in residence at Ithaca College and an activist who supports Mr. Sanders. “Hillary Clinton has definitely shifted her positions. Whether she shifts them again should she become the Democratic candidate in a general election and softens them, that’s the question I hear people wondering about.”
Fracking may sway voters in some states more than others but the issue is one that progressives must not let up on regardless of the primary contest.
UPDATE 1:
Big shout out and thank you to Mark Ruffalo, change agent and DKos reader, for his tireless efforts to end fracking.