Welcome to Exact Solar’s ‘How Green is the 2016 Presidential Election?’ series! Check out the Introduction Post for more information and be sure to check back tomorrow for another candidate!How Green is Jill Stein?
The Nation, a weekly political magazine, and 350 Action have teamed up and asked major political candidates in the Democratic, Republican and Green parties to “neither solicit nor accept campaign contributions from any oil, gas or coal company.”
We know that it’s early in the 2016 presidential race, but this election has the potential to truly revolutionize energy in America. We at Exact Solar feel that politics are at the heart of the green movement. So we are going to do all of the dirty work and research for you to provide you with the breakdown of the greenest and not-so-eco-friendly candidates so far.
As a Green Party (which does not accept corporate funding) candidate, it’s no surprise that Jill Stein has taken The Nation and 350 Action’s pledge. She also supports the initiation of a global treaty to end climate change, as well as putting an end to “extreme forms of extraction.”
Stein’s campaign is based on the “Green New Deal,” a four-part program that is based on President Roosevelt’s New Deal program that helped the United States out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. In addition to promoting ‘green’ research, businesses, and job growth, other aspects of the program focus on providing tuition-free public education from preschool through college, affordable housing, $15 federal minimum wage, and breaking up big banks.
Moving toward clean energy and zeroing out climate emissions requires investment, but Stein stresses that improving climate health will pay for itself by improving human health. “The Green New Deal virtually pays for itself just in terms of the health savings alone because what injures the health of the climate also injures human health,” she says.
While her campaign is similar to that of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, she expressed disappointment that he is standing under the Democratic umbrella in an interview with Democracy Now! “I’m running in a party that also supports that vision, so when our campaign comes to an end, that vision will not die. It will not be absorbed back into a party that is essentially hostile to that vision.”
How Green is Jill Stein? Stein may not have expectations of winning the presidential election, but she is still passionately preaching changes to the system that she believes in. For voters who are concerned about climate change and clean energy, but don’t want to conform to the two-sided Republican vs. Democratic system, Stein may be the woman to vote for.