Amy Klobuchar in CNN "State of the Union" interviews during 2019
On Civil Rights:
We need environmental justice in this country
Q: How to help communities of colors with disasters? KLOBUCHAR: We need environmental justice in this country. People who are economically disadvantaged, and people of color--many times they're the ones left behind. A lot of this is going to have to
be investing in those communities. We have to make sure that money's going to help the workers who are transitioning to new jobs, #1. And #2, making sure that people are basically held harmless when they see any effects for people that can
Source: Climate Crisis Town Hall (CNN 2019 Democratic primary)
Sep 4, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Carbon neutral is goal; nuclear/coal during transition
Q: What defines safe nuclear power and clean coal? Don't they sound like oxymorons? A: We have to go to carbon neutral by no later than 2050. With nuclear I would look at all the plants we have right now. It is about 20% of our energy and it doesn't
emit carbon. I would look at those plants and make sure they're safe and figure out what upgrades we have to make, but I wouldn't expand nuclear unless we can find safe storage. I wouldn't allow for building of new coal plants. What we're
as we phase out coal plants is how we can make them better for the environment.
Q: How do we get to carbon neutrality?
A: Being part of the international climate change agreement again, to have some clout and leverage with our allies will make a
big difference. The thing which is really exciting is putting incentives out there for farmers to do things that will reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. That's things like planting winter cover crops. As president I would expand it greatly.
Source: Climate Crisis Town Hall (CNN 2019 Democratic primary)
Sep 4, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Energy efficiency is low-hanging fruit
Q: Our least expensive, fastest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to simply use less energy in our daily lives. What plans do you have for getting U.S. citizens and businesses to change their behavior? KLOBUCHAR: The former Energy Secretary
always referred to energy efficiency as a low-hanging fruit. Putting really strict building standards in place to make these buildings as energy efficient as possible to reduce our carbon. Moving to electric cars and trucks.
To do that of course, we need the grid and that's why my infrastructure plan is so focused on green infrastructure. There are numerous examples of what we can be doing to make energy efficiency, which I agree is this low-hanging fruit. You know why
it's popular with the public? Whether it's increasing the gas mileage standards and then eventually moving to electric cars, or the building standards, or the appliance standards--it's popular because if people save money they really like
Source: Climate Crisis Town Hall (CNN 2019 Democratic primary)
Sep 4, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Gut punch from White House stopped election reform bill
When we were trying to move our bipartisan bill for backup paper ballots across this country to protect our democracy, I got gut-punched from the White House. They made calls. And they stopped it in its tracks, even though it would pass the
Senate with overwhelming votes. They don't want this free election. You can tell by every move they make and everything the president says.
Source: CNN "SOTU" 2019 interview series
Jun 30, 2019
On Foreign Policy:
Diplomacy with North Korea not easy; we need clear focus
Of course, we want to see a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a reduction in these missiles. But it is not as easy as just going and bringing a hot dish over the fence to the dictator next door. This is a ruthless dictator.
You have to have clear focus and a clear mission and clear goals. The president will meet with him. That is fine. But then we have no clear path and nothing comes out of it.
Source: CNN "SOTU" 2019 interview series
Jun 30, 2019
On Foreign Policy:
Talking to North Korea good, working with allies better
We want to see a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a reduction in these missiles. But it is not as easy as just going and bringing a hot dish over the fence to the dictator next door. You have to have clear focus and a clear mission and clear
goals. It is always good to talk to people when you're dealing with something so important as nuclear weapons. But then we have no clear path and nothing comes out of it. I would think working with our allies would make it better.
Source: CNN State of the Union 2019 interview
Jun 30, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Trump's failed to protect security of our elections
He's not acting like the leader to protect our national security, if he wanted to do that, his administration wouldn't be stopping the Secure Elections Act in its tracks. They made calls when my bill with Senator Lankford was headed to the floor.
They wanted to stop that bill that would have required assistance from the federal government for election equipment [and] backup paper ballots. It would have required auditing. It would have required better information-sharing.
Source: CNN SOTU 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls
May 5, 2019
On Drugs:
Fund treatment & mental health with opioid tax
That means enough beds in this country for people with mental health problems if they're facing a crisis. That means doing something about our mounting suicide rate for farmers, for veterans, for LGBTQ youth. That means actually putting the
money into treatment. I have a proposal for [a] 2 cents-per-milligram fee on these opioid pharma companies that have made tons of money off the backs of people who got addicted. You can also use it for these other drugs, as well as mental health.
Source: CNN SOTU 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls
May 5, 2019
On Drugs:
Reduce sentences for non-violent drug offenders
One of the things that we are starting to resolve is the federal drug sentences. I was a sponsor of the FIRST STEP Act, a co-sponsor. That was the important law that just passed on a bipartisan basis that brought down the federal drug sentences,
which were much higher than the local drug sentences for nonviolent offenders. It's called the FIRST STEP Act because there has to be a second step act.
Source: CNN State of the Union 2019 on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Mar 17, 2019
On Technology:
Users of social media should be able to control their data
Those companies for so long have said, we have your back. Meanwhile, your data is getting shared. You send an e-mail to someone, and the next thing, you see an advertisement about the thing you sent the e-mail on. So that's why I want privacy
legislation to basically say, hey, we have a right over our data. Stop messing around with us, and then also put in plain language what your rights are, instead of 50 pages. And then, finally, notify us when there's breaches.
Source: CNN State of the Union 2019 on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Mar 17, 2019
Page last updated: Jan 12, 2020