Politicians – can you ever trust them on anything?
Clinton was forced during the campaign season to speak out against both the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (TPP) and fracking after her her rival, Bernie Sanders, spoke vehemently against both.
Already under fire for not publicly calling for President Obama to denounce the TPP and for not getting the Democratic party to come out against fracking, Clinton then chose Tim Kaine, a politician that voted to authorize fast-track powers for the TPP and has been support of the agreement, as her running mate.
Now Clinton has made another move that may have many scratching their heads and questioning her promises. Clinton has named former Colorado Democratic Senator and Interior Secretary Ken Salazer to be the chair of her presidential transition team. The team is responsible for helping set up her new administration should she win in November, including selecting and vetting candidates for over 4,000 presidential appointments.
Why is this significant? Salazar has a long history of being in bed with the oil, gas, ranching and mining industries. He also opened the Arctic Ocean for oil drilling, oversaw the terrible response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is a huge supporter of the TPP, and has fought against restrictions on fracking.
Salazar, along with Bruce Babbitt, wrote an op-ed for USA Today last November that the TPP would be “the greenest trade deal ever.”
Clinton’s newest appointment has also appeared at oil and gas industry conferences to argue in favor of fracking. Salazar stated: “We know that, from everything we’ve seen, there’s not a single case where hydraulic fracking has created an environmental problem for anyone. We need to make sure that story is told.” This was stated even after the EPA acknowledged the fracking can cause problems, such as contaminating drinking water.
Environmentalists are especially worried. Greenpeace USA Democracy Campaign Director Molly Dorozenski said in a public statement: “If Clinton plans to effectively tackle climate change, the last thing her team needs is an industry insider like Ken Salazar. Salazar’s track record illustrates time and again that he is on the side of big industry, and not of the people.”
This really puts a damper on the many promises Clinton has made as a part of her campaign so far.
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