Sanders pulls all-nighter for climate change action

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, joined more than two dozen Senate Democrats to bring attention to the issue of climate change in a 15-hour all-night talkathon on the Senate floor Monday night.
The “crisis” of climate change, Sanders said, is an issue the nation must confront.
“The scientific community has been extremely clear. Climate change is real. Climate change is man-made,” Sanders said in a statement. “And climate change is already causing severe damage in terms of drought, floods, forest fires, rising sea levels and extreme weather disturbances.”
This comes after Sanders announced a potential bid for president in 2016; climate change, he told The Nation last week, is a problem for the nation.
Sanders is a member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and is the sponsor of several environment and energy-related bills, including the Climate Protection Act of 2013, an amendment to the Clean Air Act that would place a fee on carbon emissions – a proposal unlikely to move forward in today’s political landscape.
During his 20-minute speech Monday night, Sanders said he hopes Vermont can lead the nation on addressing climate change.
“My hope is that Vermont will be a national leader in transforming our energy system, moving us away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy. Doing that will not only help reverse climate change, but can, over a period of years, create millions of good-paying jobs,” he said in a statement.
The senator’s message extended beyond Vermont. Drought, wildfires, storm surges, and record high temperatures battered the nation last year, he said, and created the so-called “angry summer” in Australia.
The talkathon comes as President Obama decides whether to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring heavy Canadian crude oil from Alberta to Texas.
Environmentalists say the decision represents an important crossroads for the nation’s energy policy.