On Thursday, Bill and Chelsea Clinton were on the campaign trail on behalf of Hillary Clinton. Bill spoke to a crowd of supporters at the Keystone Building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and he emphasized Hillary’s experience and her plans to create jobs, reduce student debt, and continue health care reform. The focus of his speech was equality and ensuring that everyone in America was benefiting from the country’s successes. He said that the country is stronger when everyone rises together. Bill argued that is Hillary’s primary concern. He said, “She always finds a way to make something good happen. That’s why she should be president.” Bill also attended a evening fundraiser in Westport, Connecticut. A video from today’s event will be added when/if available.
Chelsea held three organizing events in Maryland to encourage early voting and to rally support for her mother before next week’s primary. She spoke at events in Silver Springs, Beltsville, and Randallstown. At each of the events, she spoke about the importance of the 2016 election and why Hillary is the best choice for president. She pointed to Hillary’s experience and said that this election is “the most important election in my lifetime.” Chelsea took questions from attendees on a number of topics including her mother’s Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, the refinancing of student loans, and the perception of Hillary being untrustworthy. A clip from WBAL’s news coverage of Chelsea’s visit is below.
Yesterday, Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled her energy plan after coming out against the Keystone XL Pipeline earlier this week. In a blog post on Medium, Clinton announced her plan to make the United States “the clean energy superpower of the 21st century”. Her plan calls for a series of infrastructure improvements including repairing and replacing outdated oil and gas lines, increase safety of railroad transpiration, and enhancing the security of the current energy grid. She is also calling for new resources including a National Infrastructure Bank, grants, accelerated federal investment, and innovation. She is also proposing the creation of a North American Climate Compact to encourage the US, Canada, and Mexico to work together to reduce their impact on the environment and combat climate change. Full details of Clinton’s plan can be viewed on The Briefing.
In her blog post, Clinton outlined this and explained why she opposes the building of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Her full post is below:
When I was secretary of state, the department began reviewing an application to build a pipeline that would bring Canadian oil sands crude across the border, run more than a thousand miles through the American heartland, and terminate in Nebraska — Keystone XL.
As the secretary who initiated the review, I refrained from commenting on the pipeline after I left the federal government. I didn’t want to get ahead of President Obama while the process was still underway — because the decision was and is his to make.
Since the application was filed, the effects of climate change have grown more acute. More than 8 million acres have burned in the United States so far this wildfire season. California is in the fourth year of a historic drought scientists say has been made worse by climate change. More severe storms and extreme heat waves have wreaked havoc around the world.
I have come to feel I can’t stay silent on an issue that matters so much to so many. Though I wanted to give the president space to make a decision, the process has taken far longer than I expected. I want the American people to know where I stand. That’s why I am making it clear:
I am opposed to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
We shouldn’t be building a pipeline dedicated to moving North America’s dirtiest fuel through our communities — we should be focused on what it will take to make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. For too long, the Keystone XL pipeline has been a distraction from the real challenges facing our energy sector — and the job-creating investments that we should be making to meet them. Building a clean, secure, and affordable North American energy future is bigger than Keystone XL or any other single project. That’s what I will focus on as president.
That’s why today I am announcing a comprehensive strategy to modernize American energy infrastructure and forge a new partnership with Canada and Mexico to combat climate change across the continent, unleashing billions in investment, delivering reliable and affordable energy, protecting the health of our families and communities, and creating good-paying jobs and careers.
The United States trades as much energy with Canada and Mexico each year as with all other countries combined, through a deeply integrated pipeline network, rail system, and electrical grid. As President, I will immediately launch negotiations with Canada and Mexico to forge a North American Climate Compact that sets strong national targets to cut carbon pollution, so all three countries demonstrate a commitment to climate action; provides accountability measures, so each country has confidence that the others are living up to their end of the bargain; and creates certainty for investors and confidence in the future of our climate, so we can all marshal resources equal to the challenges we face.
In recent years, American communities have endured toxic pipeline spills and rail car explosions. We have yet to harness new technologies that reduce costs and increase consumer choice or to sufficiently protect the grid against the growing threat of cyber-attack. Even as states and the Obama administration have worked to accelerate clean energy deployment, we need to do more. Simply put, our infrastructure has not kept pace with the changing energy sector.
To help unleash the investment we need, I will create a national infrastructure bank that leverages public and private capital, and work with Congress to close corporate tax loopholes and increase transportation funding to cut commute times, oil consumption, and pollution. Along with my Clean Energy Challenge to boost low-carbon electricity, improve building efficiency, and make our cars and trucks cheaper to fuel and cleaner to operate, these steps will create jobs and opportunity across the country.
Our more than 2 million miles of oil and natural gas pipes are in disrepair, resulting in oil spills, chronic methane leaks, and even devastating explosions. I will strengthen national pipeline safety regulations and partner with pipeline operators, local regulators, and technology providers in repairing and replacing thousands of miles of the country’s oldest pipes.
Over the past five years, a 20-fold increase in the amount of oil shipped by rail has led to devastating accidents. My plan speeds up the retirement of the oldest and riskiest train cars, repairs track defects, and guarantees first responders and the public have better information about oil and hazardous materials passing through their communities.
We must also invest in grid security and resilience. My plan creates a new threat assessment team to improve coordination and protect our grid from cyberattack, and strengthens the grid to reliably and affordably meet both base load and peak demand.
American energy policy is about more than a single pipeline to transport Canada’s dirtiest fuel across our country. It’s about building our future — a future where the United States will once again lead the world by constructing state-of-the-art infrastructure, creating new jobs and new markets, accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy, and improving the health, safety, and security of all Americans.
On Tuesday, Hillary Rodham Clinton continued addressing heath care issues by announcing her plan to curb the rising costs of prescription drugs. Speaking at Moulton Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa, Clinton said that, “We’re going to add on to the good work that was done by the Affordable Care Act.” The plan she outlined would require pharmaceutical companies to reinvest profits into research, allow for the import of drugs from other countries, expand opportunities for generic medications, allow Medicare to negotiate for lower drug costs, and cap the out-of-pocket expense for everyday Americans with chronic health issues.
Clinton made it clear that she would tougher on the companies, especially since many of them receive tax payer funded grants from the government to supplement the funding of their research. Then, they charge an exorbitant amount for the drug. She said, “That is not the way the market is supposed to work. That is bad actors making a fortune off of people’s misfortune. Pharmaceutical companies can charge astronomical fees, far beyond anything it would take to recoup their investment and far beyond.” Read a full fact sheet of Clinton’s plan from The Briefing.
Clinton also made headlines during the event when she declared that she is against the building of the Keystone XL Pipeline. She said, “I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone XL pipeline as what I believe it is: A distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change, and, unfortunately from my perspective, one that interferes with our ability to move forward and deal with other issues. Therefore, I oppose it. I oppose it because I don’t think it’s in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change.” The video below is not complete and will be updated when/if a full is available.
Hillary Rodahm Clinton returned the speaking circuit following a one-month break. Speaking at an event at the RBC Winnipeg Convention Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Clinton re-emerged as an announcement about her possible 2016 run is expected soon. She spoke on a wide variety of topics including the relationship between the United States and Canada, but she skirted questions about the contentious Keystone pipeline.
Clinton also spoke about the terrorist attack in Paris, and cautioned against blaming the entire Islamic religion for something that extremists carried out. She also spoke for the first time about President Barack Obama’s recent executive action to reform the immigration system of the United States saying, “Canada and the United States, unlike most places in the world, are nations built by immigrants and energized by our diversity. It hasn’t always been smooth or easy, but at our best, we kept expanding our idea of family and community … to keep making more room at the table.”
You may watch a video from the event by Clicking Here. (Thanks to Sara for the tip.)
For 2015, Clinton’s speaking schedule is light (see our 2015 Timeline) and there have been a number of reports indicating the she has built a team for her 2016 presidential run. Nevertheless, an announcement is not expected until sometime in the early spring.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was the keynote speaker at the League of Conservation Voters dinner. Clinton focused on the environment in her speech and touched on fracking and the future of natural gas. She did avoid the Keystone Pipeline in her speech. Clinton also spoke about climate change saying, “We continue to push forward but that is just the beginning of what is needed. There is no getting around the fact that the kind of ambitious response required to effectively combat climate change is going to be a tough sell at home and around the world.”
The video above is a clip from her speech and a full video if/when available.
Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at the Toronto Region Board on Trade in Canada as part of her book tour for Hard Choices. She spoke about a wide variety of topics including US involvement in Iraq, Russia and the Ukraine, and women in politics. One of the most contentious topics was the Keystone XL Pipeline, which has been a point of contention between the US and Canada lately. Clinton acknowledged the disagreement between the US and Canada, but cautiously said, “(But) I do not see it, though, nor should it be, a proxy for the (Canada-U.S.) relationship, It is, after all, one pipeline.”
Hillary Clinton Speeches 