Friends of the Earth Action Announces Dual Endorsement of Sanders and Warren

January 30, 2020

WASHINGTON – Today, the Board of Directors for Friends of the Earth Action announced its dual endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth Action, issued the following statement on behalf of the board:

The future of people and the planet depends on a bold progressive champion leading the United States. Both Senator Warren and Senator Sanders support strong policies ranging from a Green New Deal and breaking up Big Agriculture companies, to fighting for economic justice and protecting our democracy. They are both suited to the task of defeating Donald Trump and restoring sanity to our national government. We encourage our members, supporters, environmentalists and Democratic voters to work together to ensure that one of these true progressives is nominated to take on Donald Trump in the general election.

Never in our 50-year history has Friends of the Earth Action been in the position of having two such inspiring and fearless progressive leaders to choose from. While their policies and approaches differ, Senator Sanders and Senator Warren both offer bold solutions to the deep structural problems plaguing this country.

On climate change, they are both committed to phasing out fossil fuels, protecting workers and communities, ensuring a just transition, and investing trillions of dollars to achieve 100 percent renewable energy. These are solutions that match the scale of the climate crisis.

On agriculture, the candidates’ platforms recognize that we must fundamentally transform our food system to stabilize our climate and ensure food security. Their plans correctly call for breaking up corporate monopolies, holding Big Agriculture responsible for their environmental abuses, and redirecting giant federal subsidies to independent family farms. These policies are essential to revitalizing rural America and to ensuring our food and agriculture system is just and healthy for producers and consumers alike.

Both Senator Sanders and Senator Warren are also champions for working people. Their respective policy platforms fight for the rights of workers and demand that corporations pay their fair share in taxes. They recognize that the only way for our nation to prosper is to stop corporations from taking the wealth of our economy away from the workers who create it.

And on government corruption, these two progressives agree that we need to get money out of politics so that our federal government can serve the people of the United States and not just corporations and billionaires.

Our dual endorsement recognizes that there is an ongoing battle for the soul of the Democratic Party and the future of the United States. For far too long, Democrats have recognized huge structural and planetary problems like climate change, yet have offered ineffective, incremental centrist policies as solutions. Addressing climate change, the health care crisis, restoring our democracy, and fighting inequality are all issues that require bold ideas and bold leaders.

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders are the fearless leaders we need to inspire and ignite a generational commitment to address the deep structural problems that have been largely unheeded by previous presidents and worsened by Donald Trump.

Friends of the Earth Action is confident that a progressive candidate can and will defeat Trump and lead our nation and the world into a new era of justice and sustainability.

Contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, ejensen@foe.org