Issue Position: Climate Change & Environment

Issue Position

The United States must lead the world in tackling climate change to make certain that this planet is habitable for our children and grandchildren. We must transform our energy system away from polluting fossil fuels and towards energy efficiency and sustainability. Millions of homes and buildings need to be weatherized and we need to greatly accelerate technological progress in wind and solar power generation.

Unless we take bold action to address climate change, our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are going to look back on this period in history and ask a very simple question: Where were they? Why didn't the United States of America, the most powerful nation on earth, lead the international community in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and preventing the devastating damage that the scientific community was sure would come?

Key Actions
* Introduced the gold standard for climate change legislation with Sen. Barbara Boxer to tax carbon and methane emissions.
* Led the opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.
* Secured $3.2 billion in the economic stimulus package to fund grants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a program that has funded upgrades for more than 86,000 buildings and installed more than 9,500 solar energy systems.

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