Hillary Drug Left By Climate Promoters

Hillary doubles down on climate change — because the progressive base demands it

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Ben Bullard

Having Bernie Sanders for a persistent, pesky adversary can force you into some pretty strange corners.

Why else would Hillary Clinton risk putting even greater distance between herself and the nation’s backbone — the working class — by conspicuously and suddenly embracing an enthusiastic, aggressive policy stance on green energy and climate change?

That’s what Fox News’ Chris Stirewalt wondered Monday, before concluding that Clinton — like some GOP establishment candidates for president in the current cycle — can’t completely abandon her lip service to the ideals of her party’s most fervent base.

“[E]ver branding oneself as to the left of Obama on global warming and as the candidate of solar subsidy is not a good move for a Democrat. But given her current electoral woes, Clinton may feel she has no choice,” wrote Stirewalt.

“Clinton is not going photovoltaic to fend off Sen. Bernie Sanders, per se, but rather what he represents: deep misgivings about Clinton’s trustworthiness. That Pew found 96 percent of ‘solid liberals’ would do ‘whatever it takes’ to protect the environment tells you the power global warming has in her party — it acts as a social, quasi-religious issue with the Democratic base. And, by Gaia, she needs help fast.”

That’s because the quicker she can dispense with her party challengers, the sooner she can begin consolidating her policy stances with an eye toward cross-party appeal.

That’s a mission that Clinton had to subvert Sunday when she announced a pair of “bold national goals” relating to climate change: a completely not-serious push to establish the makings of an all-renewable energy infrastructure over the next 10 years and an initiative that would increase the number of solar panels in the U.S. to at least 500 million “by the end of her first term,” according to Bloomberg.

Climate change is a “niche issue that alienates blue-collar voters, especially in the Midwest,” Fox’s Stirewalt noted. “Democrats may tout polls that show a plurality of adults now believe in man-made global warming, [but] it’s a loser with middle-class families in places like Ohio and Michigan.”

That’s why if Clinton goes on to be the Democrats’ nominee, you’re not likely to hear much about it — once she’s dispatched her farthest left-leaning primary challengers.