To: Sen. Charles Schumer (NY-1)
He Used a Rifle to Shoot a Climate Change Bill. Don't Make Him Leader of Senate Energy & Natural ...
Karen Feridun
Joe Manchin's pro-fossil fuel stance should disqualify him as a candidate for ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee. The IPCC tells us we have 12 years left to address climate change. The U.S. Climate Assessment concurred and described the profound impacts we can expect if we fail to act. On December 5th, we learned from the Global Carbon Project's report that carbon emissions increased by 1.6% in 2017 and are projected to increase 2.7% in 2018. We need climate champions in leadership positions, not politicians who have spent their careers in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry. Do not put Joe Manchin in this important role.
Why is this important?
Joe Manchin, the pro-coal Democratic senator from West Virginia, is in line to be the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee next year, taking the place of Maria Cantwell who is leaving the role to head a different committee.
Although one of the most public examples of his support of fossil fuels was his campaign ad where he shot a cap-and-trade bill with a rifle, his voting record demonstrates that the ad wasn't just a bunch of campaign hype. Climate Hawk Votes gave him an environmental score of -26 for the 2015-16 session. This year, Clean Water Action gave him 33%, using their own ranking criteria. Watch the campaign ad here: https://youtu.be/xIJORBRpOPM.
Please sign my petition telling Chuck Schumer that Manching has no place as the lead Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources committee.