Clinton: US must do more on climate

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States needs to do much more on climate change.

Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to the White House in 2016, said she backs President Obama’s proposal to curb carbon pollution from power plants.

She also said the U.S. is moving in the right direction in fighting global warming before adding, “but we need to do so much more.”

Clinton was speaking Monday evening at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

{mosads}Clinton has kept quiet on some green topics, such as whether the Keystone XL pipeline should be built, but she is a known climate policy advocate.

She stressed the importance of the U.S. acting first and its role in pushing other nations along the path of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Part of what President Obama is doing, and I fully support, is making it clear that the U.S. is going to act,” Clinton said.

She added that the new rule mandating states cut carbon pollution from existing power plants is a “a very creative American solution” by allowing each state to form its own plan for how to meet the reduction targets set by the EPA.

The new rules are crucial, Clinton indicated, because the “U.S. cannot go to an international forum, unless we have done more” on climate change.

If Clinton runs in 2016, her support of Obama’s climate agenda, and push for more policies, would likely put her in the crosshairs of Republicans who call the president’s emissions standards a “war on coal” and energy jobs.