WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) — Sens. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), I-Vt., and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), D-Ore., are expected to introduce legislation Wednesday halting new fossil fuel leases on federal lands in an effort to fight global warming.
The bill has little chance of surviving in the Republican-controlled Congress, but the two senators said they want it to provoke a grassroots awareness of solutions to the issue of global warming, keep the issue prominent as presidential campaigns proceed, including that of Sanders, and to spark a “keep it in the ground” movement.
Keeping large reserves of fossil fuel from being excavated remains a way to keep the earth from warming and keep the earth’s temperature from rising more than two degrees Celsius, the accepted threshold before the worst of global warming occurs.
“We have to stop thinking of these, in terms of the leases on our public fossil fuels, not as a way to build revenue for the government, but in fact to address the challenge of global warming. We need to drive this understanding that for us to be good stewards of our planet, we must keep in the ground the vast majority of fossil fuel reserves,” Merkley said of the legislation.
Merkley has become increasing adamant about addressing global warming through keeping fossil fuels in the ground since his 2014 re-election. He has called for keeping 80 percent of fossil fuels from being excavated. The international Energy Agency recommends the ceiling be 66 percent in 2012.
His approach has drawn criticism. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), R-Alaska, has expressed concern about climate change but has noted keeping valuable resources in the ground could raise energy prices and deprive the government of billions of dollars from leases.
“Simply saying ‘no’ is not going to solve out energy needs,” Robert Dillon, Murkowski’s spokesman, said.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.