April, 08 2020, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ryan Schleeter, Senior Communications Specialist, Greenpeace USA: +1 (415) 342-2386, rschleet@greenpeace.orgÂ
WASHINGTON
Today, Senator Bernie Sanders announced he would end his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in a video message to supporters. Sanders remains the only candidate to earn an A+ in Greenpeace's 2020 climate ranking [1]. His campaign raised the bar on climate policy by committing to a detailed vision for moving beyond fossil fuels and embracing a just, renewable-powered economy through a Green New Deal.
Greenpeace USA Senior Climate Campaigner Jack Shapiro said:
"The bar for climate policy isn't set by what political donors want or what pundits think is feasible, it's set by science. Sanders understood that perhaps more than any candidate. His focus on phasing out fossil fuels and holding oil and gas CEOs accountable for their role in creating the climate crisis must become a baseline for the Democratic Party.
"Right now, those same oil and gas CEOs are viewing the COVID-19 pandemic as a massive opportunity for profit. Our government should be providing relief to working families, not a bailout to the architects of the climate crisis. We know Sanders will continue to fight in the Senate to prevent a single cent of taxpayer money from going to enrich fossil fuel CEOs and shareholders, and we hope to see others join him.
"As the presumptive nominee, Joe Biden must now take up the mantle and prove he has the commitment and vision to win over climate voters in November. There is no 'middle of the road' approach to the climate crisis--we must do all we can to protect the communities already facing climate disasters. Thanks to pressure from voters and activists, Biden has improved since debuting with a "D-" in Greenpeace's original ranking. He would be wise to pick up where Sanders left off and fight to end the fossil fuel industry's stranglehold on our democracy and economy.
Key elements of Sanders' climate plan include [2]:
- The scope and ambition of his plan to phase out the oil, gas, and coal industries, including policies to end fossil fuel production on public lands, ban fossil fuel subsidies, reinstate the crude oil export ban, and make polluting corporations pay into a resilience and recovery fund for climate-impacted communities.
- His just transition plan, including investments that would create millions of family-sustaining, union jobs in a renewable energy economy and provide long-term security for fossil fuel workers with wage insurance, benefit guarantees, and job retraining.
- His vision for a Green New Deal, which includes a $16 trillion investment in advancing environmental justice, energy equity, and a clean energy future, and a plan to confront the fossil fuel executives who knowingly created the climate crisis.
Read more at the Greenpeace Climate 2020 scorecard: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/climate2020/
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday used the country's veto power at the United Nations Security Council to block Palestine's bid to become a full member of the U.N.
While 12 nations voted in favor of Palestinian membership and two abstained, the United States is one of five countries—along with China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom—who have veto authority at the Security Council.
Since Israel launched what the International Court of Justice has said is a "plausibly" genocidal assault of the Gaza Strip in response to a Hamas-led October attack, the Biden administration has blocked three cease-fire resolutions at the Security Council. Under mounting global pressure, the U.S. finally abstained last month, allowing a cease-fire measure to pass.
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In addition to the nations Parsi highlighted, Algeria, China, France, Guyana, Malta, Mozambique, Russia, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia voted for giving Palestine full U.N. membership while Switzerland and the United Kingdom abstained.
After the vote, U.N. Newsreported on remarks from Riyad Mansour, a U.N. permanent observer for the state of Palestine:
"We came to the Security Council today as an important historic moment, regionally and internationally, so that we could salvage what can be saved. We place you before a historic responsibility to establish the foundations of a just and comprehensive peace in our region."
Council members were given the opportunity "to revive the hope that has been lost among our people" and to translate their commitment towards a two-state solution into firm action "that cannot be maneuvered or retracted," and the majority of council members "have risen to the level of this historic moment, and they have stood on the side of justice and freedom and hope, in line with the ethical and humanitarian and legal principles that must govern our world and in line with simple logic."
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"Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest," chanted hundreds of students as they marched around the area where organizers had set up a tent encampment early Wednesday morning.
Columbia President Minouche Shafik informed the campus community on Thursday that she had authorized the police to clear the encampment.
As it has been in the past, the school has become a center of anti-war protests—and crackdowns by school officials and the police—since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in October.
Pro-Palestinian students and alumni have demanded that Columbia divest from companies that profit from Israel's apartheid policies in the occupied Palestinian territories and cancel its dual degree program with Tel Aviv University.
In response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Columbia in November suspended the campus chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine—an action that pushed the New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal to file a lawsuit on behalf of the students last month.
On Thursday, police and Columbia employees took down about 50 tents that had been up for more than a day and disposed of them in trash cans and alleyways—but The New York Times reported later that "demonstrators repitched a couple of tents, and ... recovered the main signage from the encampment as well," while hundreds of students were "still gathered and chanting on the south side of the grass."
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U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whose daughter, Isra Hirsi, was among the Barnard students who were suspended on Thursday for participating in the encampment protest, questioned Shafik about whether antisemitic protests have actually taken place at Columbia, prompting the president to say there have not.
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New York City Council member Tiffany Cabán was among those who condemned the university's crackdown on the protests on Thursday.
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The youth-led Sunrise Movement on Thursday celebrated Bloombergreporting that "White House officials have renewed discussions about potentially declaring a national climate emergency."
The Wednesday revelation came just two days after six young activists were arrested outside Vice President Kamala Harris' Los Angeles, California home to increase pressure on the Biden administration to make such a declaration, which would unlock various federal powers to combat the fossil fuel-driven global crisis.
According to Bloomberg:
Top advisers to President Joe Biden have recently resumed talks about the merits of such a move, which could be used to curtail crude exports, suspend offshore drilling, and curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because a final decision has not been made.
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"The pressure is working. Let's keep it up," Sunrise said on social media, highlighting some of what Biden—who claimed last year that "practically speaking," he had already declared a national climate emergency—could do with a real declaration.
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