August 1, 2015
Friends of the Earth Action endorses Bernie
Sanders for president
WASHINGTON, D.C.
– Friends of the Earth Action announces its endorsement of Senator
Bernie Sanders for president, citing his legislative record and
leadership on critical, social and environmental issues.
“He has proven himself a bold and fearless voice for the planet,”
said Friends of the Earth Action President Erich Pica. “Sen. Sanders’
bold ideas and real solutions to addressing climate change, inequality
and promoting a transformative economy that prioritizes public health
and the environment over corporate profits, have earned him an
enthusiastic endorsement from Friends of the Earth Action.
In making its endorsement of Sen. Sanders, Friends of the Earth
Action notes that it will actively promote the candidate to its members
and participate in local, state and national efforts to support his
confirmation as the Democratic party candidate for president; with
funds from the Friends of the Earth Action PAC.
Read Erich Pica’s complete statement here.
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Bernie Sanders for
president
By Erich Pica, Friends of the Earth Action president
We are at a generational, if not an historical, tipping point for
our nation and the world. Our economy and institutional power
structures have been built on the exploitation of people and the
environment. Addressing the climate crisis and growing economic and
social inequalities requires a presidential candidate with an
independent voice to challenge and dismantle these structures. We need
a voice that can embolden and empower a grassroots movement of people
to create a more healthy and just nation.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has spent a lifetime fighting against this
exploitation and motivating people to take action. This is why the
Friends of the Earth Action PAC enthusiastically endorses Sen. Sanders
for President of the United States. Our endorsement is based on his
deep and unyielding commitment to fighting climate change and, leaving
our world a better place for the future.
Environmentally, Sen. Sanders is a vocal and visible leader. From
challenging agro-industry giants like Monsanto who seek to prevent
people from knowing what is in their food to fighting the oil
industry’s effort to build the Keystone XL pipeline, Sen. Sanders spent
a lifetime advocating for a healthy planet. He has a remarkable 95
percent lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters after
more than 20 years of service to the State of Vermont in both the House
of Representatives and the Senate.
While voting is an indicator of leadership, Sen. Sanders’s actions
have consistently gone further. He marched in the streets of New York
with people from around the world to protest global warming and the
fossil fuel industry at the People’s Climate March. He introduced
aggressive federal legislation to address global warming and drafted
the most comprehensive effort to eliminate all fossil fuel subsidies,
which could save American taxpayers nearly $135 billion. And his vocal
support of the protests against the Keystone XL pipeline helped to
legitimize a growing anti-fossil fuels movement.
Sen. Sanders has an outstanding environmental record, but the
Friends of the Earth Action PAC’s endorsement goes beyond his
environmental leadership. Solving the climate crisis requires
addressing the deep structural social, racial and economic forces that
perpetuate a currently unfair and unjust system. We must link
protecting voting rights, overturning Citizens United, dismantling
“too-big-to-fail” banks, creating a living wage, adopting universal
health care, creating a fair and just immigration policy, protecting
workers’ right to organize, and opposing unjust trade agreements to
solving climate change.
Sen. Sanders is talking to the American people about these issues
and describing a more fair and environmentally sound country. We are at
a point in our history at which equivocating on these basic rights and
issues impacts our capacity to solve them. We simply cannot solve the
climate crisis and create a more just society by repackaging failed
policies that reinforce the current environmental and social status quo.
Sen. Sanders’ boldness and honesty was in clear display when he
recently said, “Unchecked growth — especially when 99 percent of all
new income goes to the top one percent — is absurd … Where we’ve got to
move is not growth for the sake of growth, but we’ve got to move to a
society that provides a high quality of life for all of our people.” It
is a simple truth Sen. Sanders repeats: our economy has to be built on
sound ecological principles, fairness and equity.
He has proven himself a bold and fearless voice for the planet. His
leadership on real solutions to climate change and inequality, while
creating a transformative economy to prioritize public health and
renewable energy, has earned him an enthusiastic endorsement from the
Friends of the Earth Action PAC. And we encourage anyone who values a
nation that prioritizes the rights of its citizens and health of our
planet over the profits of its corporations to support Sen. Sanders for
President of the United States.
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Erich Pica is president of the Washington, D.C.-based Friends of
the Earth U.S. and Friends of the Earth Action.
August 1, 2015
Contact: Michael Briggs
Sanders Endorsed by Friends of the Earth
First Major Environmental Group to
Back Presidential Candidate
CONCORD,
N.H. – Winning the first major endorsement for any presidential
candidate by a national environmental group, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders
on Saturday welcomed Friends of the Earth’s backing for his White House
campaign.
“I am very honored to receive the endorsement of one of the great
environmental organizations not only in America but in the world,”
Sanders said at the news conference at a park here along the banks of
the Merrimack River.
The endorsement was announced by Michael Herz, a former chairman and
current Friends of the Earth board member. Erich Pica, the president of
Friends of the Earth Action, said in a statement that the endorsement
means his group’s 2 million activists will promote Sanders’ bid to
become the Democratic Party nominee for president.
“He has proven himself a bold and fearless voice for the planet,” Pica
said of Sanders in a prepared statement. “Sen. Sanders’ bold ideas and
real solutions to addressing climate change, inequality and promoting a
transformative economy that prioritizes public health and the
environment over corporate profits, have earned him an enthusiastic
endorsement from Friends of the Earth Action.”
In the audience at the news conference was Jerry Curran, the chairman
of the New Hampshire chapter of the Sierra Club. Another leading
environmentalist and best-selling author, Bill McKibben, took part in
the May 26 kickoff of Sanders’ presidential campaign at a Lake
Champlain shoreline park in Burlington, Vermont.
In accepting the Friends of the Earth endorsement, Sanders focused on
the most serious environmental issue confronting the planet: global
warming. “We need to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel
and into sustainable energy,” Sanders said.
The endorsement capped a week during which Sanders welcomed former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s support for solar power and energy
efficiency, but questioned her refusal to take a stand on construction
of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and drilling for oil in the Arctic
Ocean.
“If you’re concerned about climate change, say no to the Keystone XL
pipeline,” Sanders said at the news conference. He said the pipeline
would ship some of the dirtiest oil on the planet from Canada’s tar
sands region across the United States to refineries in Texas.
Sanders’ clear stand on the pipeline was among the factors Friends of
the Earth cited in its endorsement.
Sanders said he would tax emissions from burning oil and coal to
discourage the use of fossil fuels responsible for climate change. He
has proposed eliminating $135 billion in tax breaks for fossil fuel
companies which turn enormous profits. He introduced legislation
Congress passed to create an energy efficiency block grant program. His
measure was folded into a broader energy bill that Congress passed in
2007. He later secured $3.2 billion for the initiative to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. And his 10 Million
Solar Roofs Act would make solar power more affordable and make it
simpler for homeowners and businesses to get local permits.
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