Issue Position: Energy and the Environment

Issue Position

I BELIEVE we have a responsibility to protect the planet our children will inherit. I will make sure to hold those who sully our environment and pollute the biosphere responsible for their actions. America is a biologically diverse and lush nation; let's fight to preserve our greatest natural resource.

I will fight for good-paying, middle class jobs in the field of renewable energy, and push to expand access to cost-saving renewable energy for low-income households. Our environment and our economy will benefit from a fresh commitment to alternative energy sources, and we must make sure that there is no barrier to entry for families seeking to run their homes in a green, affordable way.

I believe that clean air and clean water are fundamental human rights. However, low income communities and communities of color are disproportionately saddled with high levels of pollution and toxic hazards. Climate change will necessarily affect low-income and minority communities, tribal nations, and Alaska Native villages. I will work towards comprehensive climate change policies that do not leave any demographic -- including former mining communities -- behind.

I will work towards aligning the United States with international consensus and impose strict regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. It is well past time that the United States and our Environmental Protection Agency stand with the international scientific community and let their comprehensive knowledge of climate change patterns inform our own environmental policy.

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