Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said her policies would create “millions of good-paying clean energy jobs” while formally accepting her party’s nomination Thursday in what many Democrats billed as a historic night.
Clinton’s call for green jobs comes after being sharply criticized for saying her policies will “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” Clinton has proposed a $30 billion spending plan to support coal communities as mines are closed, but that’s not enough for many coal supporters.
“I believe in science,” Clinton said in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Committee in Philadelphia. “I believe that climate change is real and that we can save our planet while creating millions of good-paying clean energy jobs.”
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was quick to chastise Clinton’s call for green jobs, retweeting comments by conservative pundit Ann Coulter.
“@AnnCoulter: “I believe in science” Dem code for “we’re shutting down coal mines, steel plants and any other remaining manufacturing””
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2016
Clinton may have become the first woman to accept the nomination for president, but she’s taken a lot of heat from coal miners after she promised to continue President Barack Obama’s legacy of moving the U.S. away from coal.
“I just want to know how you can say you’re going to put a lot of coal miners out of, out of jobs, and then come in here and tell us how you’re going to be our friend, because those people out there don’t see you as a friend,” Bo Copley told Clinton at a West Virginia campaign rally in April.
