Sanders Campaign Press Release - Sanders Welcomes Obama's New Push on Climate Change

FRANKLIN, N.H. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday welcomed reports that the White House on Monday will unveil new environmental regulations to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. New rules to be proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency also would stop new coal plants from being built and promote greater use of wind and solar power and other sources of renewable energy.

"President Obama understands that climate change is the great planetary crisis facing us and that we must move boldly to transform or energy system away from fossil fuels and toward energy efficiency and renewable energy," Sanders said in a statement.

"We must also kill the Keystone XL pipeline which would facilitate the excavation and transportation of some of the dirtiest oil on the planet," the senator added.

"I have not yet seen all of the details of the president's proposal but it sounds to me like a step forward in ending our dependence on fossil fuel and I support that effort."

Sanders was holding a mid-day town meeting here, one of six stops on a two-day swing through New Hampshire.

On Saturday, Sanders won the first major endorsement for any presidential candidate by a national environmental group. Friends of the Earth's political wing announced that it is backing Sanders' White House campaign. The endorsement was announced at a news conference along the banks of the Merrimack River in Concord, New Hampshire.