September, 26 2019, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Karyn Strickler
President
240-498-8726
Huge Divide Among Democratic Presidential Frontrunners on Climate Change According to Vote Climate U.S. PAC's 2020 Presidential Voter's Guide
WASHINGTON
Vote Climate U.S. PAC is releasing their national, 2020 Presidential voters guide today, rating presidential candidates on climate change, and there is a major divide among Democratic frontrunners on the issue.
"The difference between Democratic frontrunners for president on climate change in our voter's guide is huge. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders score the highest among any candidate, each with an overall climate calculation of 93.75. By contrast Joe Biden's overall climate calculation is 68.75. Those scores compare to Republican incumbent Donald Trump who is a climate zero," said Karyn Strickler, President of Vote Climate U.S. PAC.
"The difference between climate calculations for Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden comes partially from Biden's failure to advocate for 100% renewable energy by 2030. In his climate plan Biden calls for a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by no later than 2050. Senators Sanders and Warren have both committed to 100% renewable energy by 2030," said Strickler.
"Among other things, we score candidates on their plan to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Vice President Biden supports ending fossil fuel subsidies and ending fossil fuel extraction on public lands, as does Sanders and Warren. But Biden signed the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge and subsequently violated that pledge by attending a fundraising event co-hosted by Western LNG's co-founder Andrew Goldman. Senators Warren and Sanders signed the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge and have not violated the pledge," according to Karyn Strickler.
"No presidential candidate received an overall climate calculation of 100 because all three frontrunners for the Democratic nomination need to improve their climate calculations in the "Carbon Fee" category. Warren, Sanders and Biden all support a fee on carbon pollution, but all three score 75 on carbon fee, due to their need to become powerful advocates and strong voices on that issue," according to Strickler.
Vote Climate U.S. PAC's voter's guide is a tool to help voters to make climate change a top, voting priority. Polls show that American voters want political action on climate change. Karyn Strickler, President of Vote Climate U.S. PAC said, "It's up to voters to choose presidential climate-action in 2020, perhaps one of our last chances to prioritize climate change in the voting booth. Our voter's guide makes it easy for every American to vote climate."
The voter's guide is unique in its side-by-side assessment of each Democrat and Republican running for the highest office in the land. It goes well beyond a normal score card to include not only position, but also candidate's climate plan, leadership and putting a fee on carbon. Our climate calculations show definitive separation between frontrunners in the Democratic primary.
Vote Climate U.S. PAC's voters guide is accessible and simple to use. Go to our voter's guide page, where you can find our climate calculations to take into the voting booth and choose climate-action candidates. Click the green + button for more details on each candidate.
Later in 2020, Vote Climate U.S. PAC will rate U.S. House and U.S. Senate incumbents and challengers, giving climate calculations to each, as we did in 2018. We will also add a "Climate Rankings" page, where we look at the big picture of American politics and climate change, by analyzing our research data for party and regional differences.
Vote Climate U.S. PAC works to elect candidates to get off fossil fuels, transition to clean, renewable, energy and reduce carbon pollution by putting a fee on carbon, in order to slow climate change and related weather extremes.
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