Clinton Faces New Challenge from Fractivists After 'Insulting' Comments

[polly7]

Published on
Monday, April 04, 2016
by Common Dreams

As presidential campaigns head to New York, an anti-fracking epicenter, climate activists say they won't give their votes to Clinton so easily

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer

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"I feel sorry sometimes for the young people who, you know, believe this. They don't do their own research." (Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/cc)

Hillary Clinton is facing fresh scrutiny for her environmental track record, following her viral confrontation with a Greenpeace activist and some poorly-received follow-up remarks last week, as the presidential race heads to New York—home to a dedicated anti-fracking movement.

Clinton told Greenpeace campaigner Eva Resnick-Day last week that she was "sick" of Bernie Sanders' campaign "lying" about her taking contributions from fossil fuel companies, a charge which Sanders and Greenpeace have since separately defended. And environmentalists were even less enthused after Clinton told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, "I feel sorry sometimes for the young people who, you know, believe this. They don't do their own research."

Resnick-Day told Democracy Now! on Monday that Clinton's comments were "insulting."

"As a youth movement, we have done our own research and that is why we are so terrified for the future," she said.

New York activists in particular remain skeptical about Clinton, whose previous equivocating on fracking stands in stark contrast to Sanders' call to ban the controversial gas extraction method, which was outlawed in the state in 2014 after a years-long environmentalist effort.

"We now have literally thousands of fractivists who are battle-tested, who understand the politics of these issues," one such activist, Walter Hang, told the New York Times on Monday. "And they have zero inclination to give away their vote without firm commitments."

Or as climate activist and author Naomi Klein tweeted, "Young people: Hillary Clinton feels sorry for you because you don't do research. Or maybe because you do..."

Full article: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/04/04/clinton-faces-new-challenge-fractivists-after-insulting-comments

(bbm)

[Wilms]

1. .

[Jim Lane]

2. Linked article refers to Clinton "equivocating" -- that's inaccurate, she was all pro-fracking

At least as SoS she was. I don't subscribe to her Twitter feed or whatever else you need to do to know this week's position on something.