Politics

Biden Repeats Hillary Clinton’s Biggest Campaign Mistake During CNN Climate Town Hall

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Amber Athey Podcast Columnist
Font Size:

Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren offered proposals during Wednesday’s climate change town hall on CNN that mirrored what former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as her biggest mistake during her 2016 campaign.

Biden and Warren both attacked coal mining and fossil fuels during the 7-hour long forum, suggesting that eliminating one of the largest sources of energy in the United States would substantially help the environment. (RELATED: Banning Plastic Straws, Fossil Fuels: Here Are Seven Standout Moments From CNN’s Climate Town Hall)  

“We’ve got to shut down” all coal-fueled power plants, Biden asserted during his portion of the town hall.

Warren similarly offered, “I think the way we get there is we just say [to fossil fuel companies], sorry guys, but by 2035 you’re done.”

However, Clinton notably wrote in her post-election book “What Happened” that she thought her biggest mistake on the 2016 campaign trail was promising to put coal plants and coal miners out of business.

Clinton said the comment was the one “I regret the most.”

“I’m the only candidate which has a policy about how to bring economic opportunity using clean renewable energy as the key into coal country,” Clinton said in 2016. “Because we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”

Clinton lost every county in West Virginia in 2016, perhaps a direct consequence of her tough-on-coal energy stance.