Carmine Sabia December
20, 2019
“No presidential candidate is
going to get taken seriously on climate change if they’re funded by and taking
advice from current and former fossil fuel executives.”
Former Vice President Joe
Biden is not going to make many environmentalists and progressive Democrats
happy when they learn who is on his staff.
Shady Connections
Biden, 77, has a multitude of
people tied to the oil and gas industry on his campaign staff, according to a
new report by Real Sludge.
Heather Zichal, the climate
advisor for the Biden campaign, used to be a board member at Cheniere Energy, a
natural gas company. Andrew Goldman, a former adviser to Biden and a current
fundraiser, is the co-founder of natural gas company Western LNG. And Unite the
County, the SuperPac that is supporting him, has a former gas lobbyist on its
board, Sludge said.
Biggest Connection
But the most dangerous
connection to the gas and oil industry is Biden’s campaign co-chairman
Louisiana Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond. Richmond has been a steady vote in
favor of the expansion of the production and exporting of natural gas and oil.
He voted in favor of the
Keystone XL pipeline and “voted in favor of a bill from Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) that would
undermine the environmental review process for natural gas pipelines by stating
that all pipelines that transport 0.14 billion cubic feet per day or less
should be immediately approved,” Sludge reported.
Richmond also voted for bills
to exempt cross-border pipelines from environmental review, reverse the crude
oil export ban, expand offshore drilling and block the EPA from regulating the
disposal of toxic coal ash.
“This is all deeply
concerning,” Stephen O’Hanlon, the communications director of Sunrise Movement
told Sludge. “No presidential candidate is going to get taken seriously on
climate change if they’re funded by and taking advice from current and former
fossil fuel executives, and choosing to take cues from members of Congress
who’ve put the interests of oil and gas donors above the health and well-being
of their constituents.”
Democrat Debate
But Biden was singing another
tune on Thursday night at the PBS News Hour 2020 presidential debate that was
simulcast on CNN.
“We’re the only country that’s
taken great crises and turned them into enormous opportunities. I’ve met with
the union leaders. For example, we should in fact be making sure right now that
every new building built is energy contained, that it doesn’t leak energy,
that, in fact, we should be providing tax credits for people to be able to make
their homes turn to solar power,” he said.
“They’re all kinds of folks
right here in California who are now on the verge of having what
Rhys batteries the size of this podium that store energy
when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. We have
enormous opportunities.
“For example, you talk
about would we relocate people who lost their home. We have to
not rebuild the standard that existed before when we talk about when
we come in and help people. We have to rebuild to the standard
that exists today.
“For example, we shouldn’t
build a new highway in America that doesn’t have charging
stations on it. We have an opportunity to put 550,000 charging
stations so that we own the electric vehicle market, creating
millions of jobs for people installing them as well as making sure
that we own the electric vehicle market. There are so many things we
can do.
“We have to make sure we
explain it to those people who are displaced, that their skills
are going to be needed for the new opportunities,” he said.
That is likely to come as
unwelcome news to the oil and gas industry veterans on his own staff.
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