The final draft of the Democratic Party’s 2016 platform not only backs taxing greenhouse gas emissions, it also backs “using every tool available” to cut emissions even if it means circumventing Congress.
“Democrats believe that climate change is too important to wait for climate deniers and defeatists in Congress to start listening to science, and support using every tool available to reduce emissions now,” the draft platform reads, according to excerpts posted by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
Democratic officials met in Orlando, Florida, Friday to hash out what their party’s platform would be for 2016. Sanders, who is running for president, released a press statement Saturday after the drafting committee approved a final draft of the platform, which his campaign called the “most aggressive plan to combat climate change in the history of the party.”
Sanders worked hard to get his supporters on the drafting committee, and got most of the things he wanted in terms of how Democrats will handle global warming if they win the presidency this fall. The platform includes backing of local hydraulic fracturing bans, greening government operations and subsidizing green energy.
“This is the most aggressive plan to combat climate change in the history of the Democratic Party,” Warren Gunnels, Sanders’ policy director said in a statement. “As a result of this plan natural gas is no longer regarded as a bridge to the future.”
If Democrats approve the final draft, the party will endorse Obama’s strategy for environmental regulation: using his pen and phone to issue executive orders.
