Sanders campaign vows to offset all carbon emissions from travel

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign plans to offset all carbon emissions from travel, it announced Thursday morning.

“Bernie Sanders is a champion in the fight for climate justice and, like him, we know we need to address our emissions through action, not just rhetoric,” campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement. “We are proud to lead the way in the fight against climate change by acting boldly to move our energy system away from fossil fuels and towards sustainable energy sources.”

{mosads}The campaign said it will partner with NativeEnergy, a Vermont-based carbon offsets provider, to invest in renewable energy projects to balance the emissions created by its automobile and air travel. The campaign also pledged to offset event venue and attendee-related emissions.

Sanders has made climate change a central issue in his 2020 campaign since announcing its launch earlier this month. “The principles of our government will be based on justice: economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice,” Sanders said in Brooklyn.

In January, he pressed Andrew Wheeler on climate change during the then-acting Environmental Protection Agency administrator’s confirmation hearing.

“The scientific community has said that climate change is one of the great crises facing our planet,” Sanders told Wheeler. “And if there is not unprecedented action to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel, to sustainable energy and energy efficiency, there will be irreparable damage in the United States and virtually every country on earth.”