"A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for fracking"

One of comedian Matt Filipowicz's patented rants.

by Gaius Publius

One of my favorite progressive comedian-polemicists is Matt Filipowicz. From time to time on his podcast (interestingly, it's named The Matthew Filipowicz Show) he does what he calls a Rant. And yes, the capital R is called for.

These mini-editorials are well done, almost always as well researched as a news or opinion article, and to my ear, well performed as well. He recently did one on one of my favorite topics, the climate. Or rather, carbon emissions and the climate. Or more particularly, Hillary Clinton, carbon emissions and the climate.

With Matt's permission, I'd like to present that piece in full. I have vetted every statement, and I could have written each one myself. There's not a single untrue statement in this piece. Added links are mine.

Below is a lightly edited transcript of the video at the top. Enjoy (italics mine; screaming, that's all Matt):

One area that has, in my opinion, not gotten enough attention in the Democratic primary race is climate change. And right off the bat, I am going to say something that might upset some people.

In the Democratic primary, a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for fracking.

Just this week, on HillaryClinton.com, Hillary Clinton's own campaign website, she put forward, her fracking plan. Remember, this is from HillaryClinton.com. This isn't from some far left wing website. This isn't from GranolaCrunchingHippy.com. This is HillaryClinton.com.

On her Briefing page, it reads: "Clinton will ensure SAFE and RESPONSIBLE natural gas production as we move towards a clean energy future."

Sounds nice right? Safe. Responsible. Clean.

Unfortunately, in 2016, as we sit on the brink of climate disaster due to man-made climate change, there is NO SUCH THING as safe and responsible natural gas production. I'm sorry. There's not. We need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Period. Full stop.

And I'm sure most of you know this, but fracking is obviously not safe nor responsible. Fracking destroys water supplies. Fracking causes earthquakes.

Trains carrying fracked fuel derail and explode. We cover these exploding bomb trains on the show all the time.

There's this myth out there, perpetuated by the fossil fuel industry and their backers, that fracking and natural gas is clean. And yes, there is less carbon emitted by natural gas. But carbon is not the ONLY greenhouse gas. Fracking and the production of natural gas produces methane. Lots and lots of methane, which is another greenhouse gas. Over the first 20 years, methane is actually 80 times worse than carbon.

And right now, in 2016, while we're supposedly trying to keep the planet from warming to an unsustainable level... putting more methane in the atmosphere is suicide. Not to mention natural gas pipelines crack and leak methane all the time. Like what just happened in California.

The truth is we cannot frack our way to a sustainable climate.

But, according to her own website, that's what Hillary Clinton wants to do. Why? Why?

This actually isn't rhetorical. I know this is going to shock you, but the Clintons actually have pretty deep ties to the fossil fuel industry. The Huffington Post reported in July that "Nearly all of the lobbyists bundling contributions for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign have at one time or another worked for the fossil fuel industry."

The day before the Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clinton attended a gala fundraiser in Pennsylvania at a major fracking and fossil fuel investment firm.

As Secretary of State, Hillary worked closely with the fossil fuel industry to push fracking all over the world.  There's an amazing Mother Jones article from 2014 on this. She helped secure contracts for companies like Chevron and Exxon — Exxon who by the way is the United State's largest natural gas producer.

The Clinton Foundation has received millions from the dirty energy industry.

Hell, on HillaryClinton.com, on their page bragging about Hillary and fracking they actually use the term “Renewable Natural Gas.” That's a term I would expect a Republican to say — Renewable Natural Gas. Fracking is not the same as solar. Fracking is not the same as wind.

Look, when it comes to November, if Hillary is the nominee, of course there are reasons to vote for her.  None of us wants a president Trump. But this isn't November. We actually do have a choice.

There are big differences between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. This is one of them. You may have legitimate reasons you feel Clinton is the better choice than Sanders. I have plenty of friends who are Clinton supporters. 

But realize, when you cast that vote, that vote will result in MORE fracking.

Me again. "Renewable natural gas"? There it is:

That's like "renewable coal," right? All you have to do is go find more.

(Blue America has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. If you'd like to help out, go here; you can adjust the split any way you like at the link. If you'd like to "phone-bank for Bernie," go here. You can volunteer in other ways by going here. And thanks!)

GP