Democratic presidential candidate Jay Inslee on Monday said that burning all the existing available coal in the coming decades will “destroy” the country and said there needs to be an adequate “transition” for employees in the coal industry.
“Science is very clear — we cannot burn all the coal we have in the future decades, or it will destroy the country — literally. This is a scientific fact,” Mr. Inslee, the governor of Washington state, said on CNN’s “New Day.” “So what we need to do is embrace the dedicated, hard-working Americans who have built this nation by mining coal.”
Mr. Inslee recently unveiled a green energy economic plan that envisioned $3 trillion in federal spending helping leverage $6 trillion in additional investments. The plan includes a “GI Bill”-type initiative for employees and communities reliant on the fossil fuel industry.
“They’re going to be transitioning already — two-thirds of plants have already closed down [because] of market forces,” he said. “We know we’re going to have a transition. We need to make it a transition where everyone in America has a chance to benefit — and they do.”
Mr. Inslee, who has made climate change a top issue in his campaign, cited building electric cars in states like Michigan and Ohio as one example.
“The new jobs [of] the future are by the millions if we seize this opportunity. If we do not, you know where those are going to go? China, Germany,” he said.
He also reiterated his call to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for the legislative filibuster in the U.S. Senate.
“We ought to take the filibuster away from [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell,” he said. “Progress has to occur. We need to eliminate the filibuster. That [will] help a lot.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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