Donald Trump may be the biggest liar in the 2016 field but without that freak of nature in the campaign, it would certainly be Hillary Clinton in the #1 spot. She lies in a more standard politician fashion, like Cruz and Kasich. Her campaign is built on lies by professional liars (lobbyists). Her political career is built on lies. But all over the media ythis morning was her statement from yesterday: "I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me." Despite her bout of well-rehearsed anger, the problem is that she's, once again, full of crap. The Sanders campaign isn't lying about her. And the question she was responding to had nothing to do with the Sanders campaign. Greenpeace-- a non-partisan organization that doesn't endorse candidates-- has given each candidate from both parties a pledge asking them to reject future fossil fuel contributions, champion campaign finance reform and defend the right to vote for all. Bernie signed it. The 4 conservative candidates-- Trump, Cruz, Clinton and Kasich-- have not. Eva Resnick-Day, the young woman on the repelling in Purchase, New York who Hillary exploded at (in the video above) wrote an explanation of what happened and how the Clinton campaign has twisted it into an attack on Sanders. "I am an individual who deeply cares about tackling climate change and I’m deeply concerned about the state of our democracy," she wrote. "I work for Greenpeace USA as a Democracy Organizer. I do not work for and am in no way affiliated with the Sanders campaign, as Clinton seemed to suggest in her response."
Greenpeace USA along with 20 organizations launched the pledge to #FixDemocracy, asking ALL presidential candidates to reject future fossil fuel contributions, champion campaign finance reform and defend the right to vote for all.When we launched the campaign, Sanders signed the pledge immediately. Hillary’s campaign responded, but did not sign. Unsurprisingly, the Republican presidential candidates who won’t even admit that climate change is real, while real communities on the frontlines are already impacted, did not respond to our request.While Greenpeace appreciated Hillary’s response, the first step a candidate can take to stop fossil fuels is to stop taking fossil fuel money. That money matters when we hear great things about climate in Clinton’s speeches, but want to be sure she’ll truly listen to the people when she is in office. For instance, she supports a Department of Justice investigation of ExxonMobil and yet she takes money from an Exxon lobbyist. That level of coziness makes voters like me who prioritize climate change uncomfortable.To prove to people that she’s really serious about keeping fossil fuels in the ground, she needs to stop taking that money today.Today, I said to Hillary, “Thank you for tackling climate change. Will you act on your words and reject future fossil fuel money in your campaign?” I was genuinely shocked by her response. But I want to make sure we are focused on the issue at hand: asking our candidates to take a stand to Fix our Democracy. Rejecting fossil fuel money sends a strong signal.Greenpeace, 350 Action, and dozens of concerned activists have been attending events, rallies, debates, and fundraisers for many months asking Hillary Clinton to reject fossil fuel money in her campaign. This is by no means the first time that we asked Hillary Clinton the question. In fact, last night, over 40 activists gathered outside of a Hillary Clinton Fundraiser at the Dakota, asking Senator Clinton to come out and talk to the people she is fighting for. She did not cross the street to talk to us.To be clear, we are talking about more than just individual contributions from oil and gas employees. According to data compiled by Greenpeace’s research department, Secretary Clinton’s campaign and the Super PAC supporting her have received more than $4.5 million from the fossil fuel industry during the 2016 election cycle. Eleven registered oil and gas industry lobbyists have bundled over 1 million dollars to her campaign. If she takes the pledge, she’ll be sending a strong signal to our country and fossil fuel companies that it’s time to #Keepitintheground, not for the future of our planet, but for people that are living on it.
Cruz is certainly worse, but Hillary is connected to Big Oil and Gas in an unsavory way that bodes badly for America-- and the planet-- if she wins the presidency. Independent groups have shown that her wretched campaign has taken millions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry. Big Oil gives almost all it's campaign money to Republicans. Of the 20 senators and ex-senators who have taken the most in cash contributions-- legalistic bribes-- directly from Big Oil, 17 are Republicans and 3 are Democrats. One of those 3 Democrats was one term senator Hillary Clinton, who took $868,048 from Big Oil. Greenpeace, however, cast a broader net in looking to see how Hillary hopped into bed with the corrosive agents of Big Oil and Gas.
First there are the direct contributions from people working for fossil fuel companies to Hillary Clinton’s campaign committee. According to the most recent filings, the committee has received $309,107 (as of 3/21/16; source: Center for Responsive Politics) from such donors.Next are the fossil fuel lobbyists, many of whom have also bundled contributions. These donations also flow to Hillary Clinton’s campaign committee. Greenpeace has tracked $1,259,280 in bundled and direct donations from lobbyists currently registered as lobbying for the fossil fuel industry. This number excludes donations from lobbyists who are employed directly by a fossil fuel companies, as those donations would have been included in the previous number.Last are contributions from fossil fuel interests to Super PACs supporting Hillary Clinton. Greenpeace has found $3,250,000 in donations from large donors connected to the fossil fuel industry to Priorities Action USA, a Super PAC supporting Secretary Clinton’s campaign.All told, the campaign to elect Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 has received more than $4.5 million from lobbyists, bundlers, and large donors connected the fossil fuel industry.
In response to the widely-publicized Clinton lie in the video up top, Greenpeace Director Molly Dorozenski issued a statement that says "Secretary Clinton is conflating Greenpeace with the Sanders campaign, but we are an independent organization, and our research team has assessed the contributions to all Presidential candidates. We have not and will not endorse candidates... Secretary Clinton cannot ignore the voices of activists asking her to reject fossil fuel money, or explain away the more than one million dollars she takes from fossil fuel lobbyists. We would welcome a statement from Clinton saying that she plans to stop taking this money going forward to prove to young people like Eva that she;'s listening to them, not her biggest donors."Greenpeace doesn't endorse in presidential races. Normally neither does Blue America. This is the first presidential election in which we have ever endorsed a candidate or raised money for a presidential candidate. That's because the differences are so immense and so clear and the gaggle of status quo candidates doesn't come anywhere near the once-in-a-lifetime progressive in this race. Please, for the sake our our country and our children, dig deep for Bernie: