Earlier this month, Hillary Clinton held her first official town hall meeting in New Hampshire. It took place in Dover, a town of just under 30,000 located in the southeast corner of the Granite State.
The leading Democratic candidate for president took a variety of questions from the swing-state crowd, ranging from the Iran Deal and marriage equality to mass incarceration and the minimum wage, but it was a series of questions on climate change that caused an uproar.
First, a University of New Hampshire student asked Hillary a simple "yes" or "no" question about whether or not she would ban the extraction of fossil fuels on public lands. Much to the chagrin of climate activists, Clinton replied: "the answer is no until we get alternatives into place."
Moments later, another UNH student pressed Hillary again, saying she was "disappointed" by her "refusal to take leadership on climate change." She then asked Hillary- point blank- if her lack of climate action was due to the fact that she takes massive campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry.
"No, no it's not," she replied, before going on a longwinded tangent about how the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy will take time and we can't just do it all overnight because it will "disrupt our economy."
Underwhelmed by her vague, non-committal answer, the crowd voiced their displeasure in deafening fashion, erupting in boisterous chants of "Act on Climate. Act On Climate. Act on Climate."
For the first time in her campaign, it was clear that Hillary wasn't willing, prepared or able to take on climate change in the substantive way that is needed in order to prevent environmental doomsday.
CHANGING HER TUNE
Just a few weeks after the New Hampshire town hall, Hillary finally began focusing her campaign on climate change.
First came a powerful, short video called "Stand for Reality," in which Hillary highlights the threat of climate change and excoriates Republicans for denying science.
"You don't have to be a scientist to take on this urgent challenge that threatens us all. You just have to be willing to act."
Then, she unveiled two ambitious climate goals: install at least half a billion solar panels by the end of her first team and power every home in America with renewable energy within 10-years.
Climate activists all across the country applauded the move. Many were downright ecstatic. After months of barely even mentioning climate change, Hillary was taking on the issue in a substantive, meaningful way.
Sadly, despite Hillary's newfound focus on climate change, environmental activists must question whether she's truly serious about fighting climate change or just charming her progressive base to shore up votes for 2016.
There are two reasons for this.
First, Hillary continues to accept millions of dollars in campaign contributions from fossil fuel lobbyists. As a recent Huffington Post article points out, some of her biggest bundlers "have worked against regulations to curb climate change, advocated for offshore drilling, or sought government approval for natural gas exports."
Second, Hillary refuses to oppose or even comment on the Keystone XL Pipeline. As Secretary of State, she was "inclined" to approve the pipeline, however, as a Democratic candidate for president, she has yet to voice an opinion either way.
This infuriates climate activists.
While many non-environmentalists see the Keystone Pipeline as an overblown issue unworthy of such polarization and notoriety, it holds deep, symbolic meaning for climate activists.
The Earth is at a crossroads. We are standing at a fork in the road, overlooking the cliff of climate disaster. We can either continue extracting, polluting and warming our planet or we can transition to wind, solar and other renewable energy forms which will save us from climate judgment day.
With Hillary, we still don't know which road she would take.
"In the largest sense, it's her hedging-of-bets that makes the rest of us so wary. Dealing with climate change in a serious way will take enormous commitment in the face of many strong opponents; we need strong signals that our president would be resolute in this crucial task." -Bill McKibben
WILL THE REAL HILLARY PLEASE STAND UP
Recently, a former lead NASA climate scientist issued a bombshell report showing that glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica will melt 10 times faster that previously thought, which will cause the sea level to rise "at least 10 feet in as little as 50 years."
You don't have to be a scientist to realize that this is a "holy shit" moment for our planet.
This comes on the heels of a report that 2015 is on track to be the hottest year ever recorded.
The science is clear. But even if you don't believe it, just open your eyes. Wherever you look, it's obvious that the planet is sick and the fever is rising.
This past week, Iraq has been plagued by four-straight 120+ degree days, 25 degrees higher than normal for this time of year. In Iran, one city is experiencing a heat index of 163 degrees, which is close to a world record. This comes just a few months after a massive heat wave killed 2,000+ in India and another heat wave in Pakistan killed more than 1,200.
Here in America, extreme weather is everywhere. We are coming off a winter in which the northeast got record amounts of snowfall. Months ago, Texas experienced the worst flooding ever recorded. In California, the drought is so bad they only have one year of water left. Throughout Alaska and much of the West, out-of-control wildfires are raging, burning millions of acres of land. Florida and Louisiana are falling into the ocean as we speak.
Hillary's newfound focus on climate change is commendable. Her proposal to install half a billion solar panels is worthy of applause. So is her goal of powering every home in America with renewable energy within 10 years.
But the climate crisis we face is too daunting and too severe to take half-measures. It demands 100% commitment across the board. Solar panels are great, but their impact will be limited if we continue to frack, build more pipelines and allow new drilling projects in the Arctic.
We need a president in 2016 who recognizes the depth of the climate crisis we face. We need a president who isn't beholden to the fossil fuel industry. We need a president who acts boldly and takes real action to prevent climate apocalypse. We need a president who doesn't play politics with the future of the planet.
I'm thrilled to see Hillary finally take on climate change, but as long as she continues to accept money from fossil fuel lobbyists and refuses to oppose the Keystone Pipeline, the country will be left wondering just how serious she is about preventing environmental doomsday.
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