DNC bans donations from fossil fuel companies (Why not ban the use of fossil fuels?)

The DNC has voted not to accept any donations from fossil fuel companies. From HuffPost:

The resolution ― proposed by Christine Pelosi, a party activist and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter ― bars the organization from accepting contributions from corporate political action committees tied to the oil, gas and coal industries. The executive committee voted unanimously to approve the motion.

“We talk about how climate change is real and climate change is a planetary emergency, what we need to do is stop taking money from the institutions that have created this crisis,” said RL Miller, president of the super PAC Climate Hawks Vote Political Action and a co-author of the resolution.

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Here’s a bit of the proposal which the DNC passed unanimously:

WHEREAS, climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels represents an existential threat to civilization, and Democrats committed in our 2016 Platform to curbing the effects of climate change, protecting America’s natural resources, and ensuring the quality of our air, water, and land for current and future generations…

WHEREAS, fossil fuel corporations are drowning our democracy in a tidal wave of dark oily money…

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic National Committee acts to revive trust in our Party by reaffirming our progressive, pro-environment 2016 Platform…

I actually support this. Americans should know that the DNC has determined that the hundreds of thousands of people who work in the oil and gas industries are enemies of the planet whose money would taint any candidate it touched.

But when you think about it, this is really a pretty shallow resolution. Sure, the DNC won’t take donations of “dark oily money,” but they’ll still take the actual oil, gasoline, and natural gas they produce. And they’ll still use the electricity generated from burning those fuels to light their stadiums, to charge their iPhones, and to keep their DNC office computers running.

If the DNC really wants to show the world it cares about stopping evil corporations and climate change, why not cut themselves off from oil and gas completely. After all, what’s worse, the money donated from the industry or the money the DNC is paying to the industry which directly supports their corporate threat to civilization. What the DNC has done here is equivalent to announcing they won’t take money from the meat industry and then serve everyone a chicken dinner. So here’s my modest proposal for setting this right. I suggest the DNC adopt this immediately:

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WHEREAS, climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels represents an existential threat to civilization, and Democrats committed in our 2016 Platform to curbing the effects of climate change, protecting America’s natural resources, and ensuring the quality of our air, water, and land for current and future generations;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic National Committee will no longer use any fossil fuel products either directly or indirectly in its offices, its vehicles, its travel arrangements, its public events, its publications, fundraisers, etc. From now on only clean, renewable energy will be used for anything the DNC operates, hosts, employs, or owns.

If this is what they want for all of us, let them show us how it’s done. No more driving around in gas-powered cars and running the office on cheap electricity from natural gas or oil while complaining about fossil fuels. No more jet-setting around the country to raise money while complaining about the modest carbon footprints of regular people. The next DNC convention better be 100% renewable energy from top to bottom, including all of the subcontractors providing the faux-Greek columns for the stage.  Sure it will probably cost a bit more and be a lot less convenient, but you’re prepared to pay that cost for the sake of the planet, right? If you’re not willing to go all the way with it, why should anyone else be?

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