States with poor climate policy ‘overlap’ with those seeking to limit rights, Kamala Harris says
Sen. Kamala Harris said Thursday that several U.S. states which have poor climate policies are seeking to limit human rights in the name of reducing greenhouse gas emission by denying free speech.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress, she said, “One of the reasons why I’m concerned about the recent action on climate change is because of the way that states want to tell people who disagree with them, and it’s very troubling, whether it’s denying them a right to participate in our elections or seeking to limit the rights of people and to prevent them from speaking their mind and expressing how they feel. We saw that in the election, in the Missouri and North Carolina governors’ races, where they have passed legislation that prevents voters from being able to vote for candidates they agree with.”
“I support free speech and I support free speech, but it is critical that we have the ability to participate in our democracy,” she continued, “and we must have robust debate and discussion about how we move our country forward.”
Harris’ comments come more than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving North Carolina’s voter identification law, which prevents non-citizens from voting. In an interview with the Huffington Post last week, Harris said she believed the case was “a matter of basic fairness.”
And she’s called on states to reject federal funding for greenhouse gas reduction projects if such greenhouse gas reduction projects “limit” the rights of certain groups.
The Trump administration has said greenhouse gas reduction rules would be applied equally to all. However, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which advises the executive branch, said the case is “a matter of federal immigration policy, rather than public policy regarding greenhouse gas emissions.”
Kirsten Gillibrand, another Democratic senator, announced she would be seeking permission to fill her Senate term to run for president in 2020,
