Clinton, at energy event, won’t take position on Keystone pipeline

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.

“We’re expecting a reset” of the former secretary’s platform, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in an interview, “and a completely different climate and energy policy than the last time she ran for president”.

On how she plans to accomplish her goals, Clinton proposes giving states, towns and rural communities financial incentives to fight climate change, either by placing more stringent curbs on emissions than the law requires or through stepped up investments in renewable energy.

According to Mother Jones, the failure of Hillary Clinton to take a hard position on the Keystone pipeline has earned her criticism from both sides of the debate.

Many environmentalists believe the Keystone pipeline will have a major influence over the climate, and many scientists have argued that the project will exacerbate the problem of global warming.

“Clinton’s climate plan is remarkable for what it doesn’t say, yet”, California-based environmental activist R.L. Miller, who founded the Climate Hawks Vote PAC, said in a statement.

Billionaire Tom Steyer has led an effort to promote the issue.

Hillary Clinton rebuffed a question Monday about her position on the Keystone XL oil pipeline even as she unveiled new energy proposals, opening the door to jeers from Republicans who accused her of “dodging”.

Clinton declined to specify how she would pay for her proposal, telling reporters that while there would be some upfront costs, “A lot of these changes will pay for themselves”.

Environmental groups praised Clinton for setting the goals but said they wanted to see details and a conviction that she would follow through. “Look, the notion that she can’t talk about it because the State Dept.is still working on it makes no sense”.

“We need to get the incentives fixed in our tax system which as you know are too heavily weighted toward fossil fuels”, Clinton said during a day of campaigning in central Iowa. And they remain the home of key coal-producing areas.

The Democratic presidential candidate called for installing 500 million solar panels by 2020 as part of a plan she likened in its ambitions to President John F. Kennedy’s moonshot in the 1960s. This initiative would add more power generation capacity to the grid than during any decade in American history and translates to 33 percent renewable energy by 2027; up from 13% now.

The plan’s estimated cost is about $60 billion over 10 years, and would be paid for by eliminating tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said. Campaign aides to O’Malley said that as governor, he made climate change a top priority, doubled Maryland’s renewable fuel production, and reduced greenhouse gases by 10 percent during his two terms.