WARREN ON CLIMATE: Attack DC Corruption Driving Destruction; A 'BLUE NEW DEAL' For Waters

[appalachiablue]

~ Daily Kos: 'Elizabeth Warren says she will 'attack the corruption in Washington' that drives climate destruction,' 9/4/19. Report on Sen. Warren's input at the CNN Climate Town Hall tonight, Sept. 4, 2019. Excerpts:

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the seventh candidate to take the stage in CNN’s seven-hour presidential town hall on climate change. After a quick greeting, Chris Cuomo went straight to the audience. A retiree and novelist asked if she favored a carbon tax. Citing lessons she learned about cleaning up her own mess, Warren adamantly stated she was pro-carbon tax. When Cuomo asked her for a percentage, she shifted away and said she wanted to focus on the areas that make the most carbon: buildings, cars, and generating electricity. She then shouted out Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan and explained a slow rollout of carbon reduction for new buildings, new vehicles, and electricity sources.

The next question focused on her opinion on nuclear energy, and whether the risk outweighed benefits. Warren pointed out that discarding spent fuel rods are a question nobody has the answer to, and she wants the nation off nuclear power and fossil fuels by 2035.



Cuomo then asked it she was willing to risk the economy in pursuit of fighting climate change. He quoted Donald Trump, who said that the Green New Deal is a dream. Warren shot back that if the GND is the dream, then wherever Trump is would be a nightmare. She asserted that she absolutely is ready to do that.

Next, a law student from Appalachia discussed the devastating impact that mountaintop coal mining has on the communities, and asked if Warren supported legislation that first, would pause it until environmental impact was evaluated, and second, would help figure out what comes next. Warren answered “yes” without hesitation, and declared she would fight the companies that are doing this damage.

Cuomo asked about reassuring displaced workers in the fossil fuel industry, and Warren pointed out that the Green New Deal isn’t just Green, it’s also a New Deal, which provides jobs, creating a giant market. She wants to invest in deep R&D, and then give the world free rein to produce that tech—but only if they manufacture in the United States, creating a huge job market. She slid in support of unions in her plan to save the world, insisting that workers are needed to make this a reality.

..A climate activist came up next, and asked if Warren would advocate for public ownership of all utilities. Warren thought about it, and said she wasn’t sure she thinks it’s the right solution, especially as dependency on fossil fuels is reduced. She doesn’t oppose profits, she said, she doesn’t want anyone doing harm to make those profits.

Bill Weir, CNN Chief Climate Correspondent, highlighted Port Arthur, Texas, and residents fighting the impact of its oil refinery every day. He asked Warren how she’d address those who’d rather keep the polluting refinery open because they’d rather have a job than clean air, because they’ll go hungry before they’ll die from pollution. Warren mused about her time in Port Arthur, and pointed out that the investors in the oil refinery are the ones truly profiting from it, not the workers, as well as corrupt politicians in Washington, D.C. She vowed to start at the corruption.

> Next, via video, a shellfish farmer pointed out that the Green New Deal only addresses the oceans once. He asked if Warren had a plan for a BLUE NEW DEAL for those who make their living on the water. Warren chuckled at that phrase and shared anecdotes of those who work the sea finding weird stuff in the water, and foreign species migrating up and down the coast. Saying “Count me in!” on the Blue New Deal, Warren said it can’t just be a focus on the United States, it has to be a focus on the entire world … including the waters...

Read More, https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/4/1883481/-Elizabeth-Warren-says-she-will-attack-the-corruption-in-Washington-that-drives-climate-destruction

[appalachiablue]

2. Luv it! Credit to the shellfish farmer in the audience who mentioned

a BLUE New Deal during his question to her. Warren embraced the idea, and she was powerful, clear and positive tonight.

[saidsimplesimon]

3. Excellent on the debate stage,

Elizabeth Warren shines when she is delivering material, without a prompter. She knows how to prepare for and win debates. It would be a pleasure to see the "penis envy" hurricane path into "Alabama" maniac have his head served on a plate during a debate with Senator Warren.

PS: I will lay down a cash bet that IT would refuse a debate, due to bone spurs growing on the gray matter that is turning black from rot, inside and out.