Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumDemocrats pitch Keep it in the Ground bill to prohibit new fossil fuel extraction
Source: The Guardian
Democrats pitch Keep it in the Ground bill to prohibit new fossil fuel extraction
The bill would ban coal, oil and gas extraction on US public land and is symbolic,
as it has no chance of passing a Congress dominated by Republicans
Oliver Milman
Thursday 11 February 2016 18.57 GMT
Legislation that would ban coal, oil and gas extraction on US public land has been introduced in Congress in a timely act of Democratic defiance to the legal threat looming over Barack Obamas plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions.
The Keep it in the Ground Act would prohibit the digging or drilling for fossil fuels on federal land or waters. A Senate version of the act has the support of several senior Democrats, including presidential nominee Bernie Sanders.
The bill, which has 16 Democratic co-sponsors in total, states that global warming has already had a significant impact on the US economy and that to avoid a dangerous 2C (about 4F) increase in global temperatures, at least 80% of carbon from known fossil fuel reserves must be kept in the ground.
Introduction of the bill is a symbolic act as it has no chance of passing a Congress dominated by Republicans who have accused the US president of waging a war on coal that harms American jobs. But the bill is a signifier of Democratic intent to aggressively push forward climate change policy, beyond even that proposed by the Obama administration.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/11/keep-it-in-the-ground-legislation-coal-oil-gas-fossil-fuels-obama-democrats
Kip Humphrey
(4,753 posts)a good Hillary question for the next debate.
FBaggins
(26,696 posts)It has no chance of passing... period.
I doubt they could get a majority of Democrats alone.