--- title: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Feud Over Climate Change description: An exchange between Democratic rivals over ties energy companies led the campaigns to accuse the other of spreading false information. canonical: https://time.com/4279742/climate-change-democratic-race/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-01T23:18:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:59.565Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Feud Over Climate Change og:description: But there's little dispute on the facts og:url: https://time.com/4279742/climate-change-democratic-race/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9e7c450c9befb62/69888d763c16395a9d45cac9/clinton1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: Hillary Clinton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Feud Over Climate Change twitter:description: But there's little dispute on the facts twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9e7c450c9befb62/69888d763c16395a9d45cac9/clinton1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Environment Is Finally Making an Impact on the Democratic Race > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: The Candidates: Watch a Hillary Clinton Rally In Super Slow Motion [Watch (HLS stream): The Candidates: Watch a Hillary Clinton Rally In Super Slow Motion](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Dy4mocJQ.m3u8) (5:23)  _Published 2016-02-05. This video shows you Hillary Clinton at almost 1000 frames per second._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2016 11:18 PM UTC  Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally in Purchase, on March 31, 2016. Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally in Purchase, on March 31, 2016.Seth Wenig—AP  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2016 11:18 PM UTC A testy exchange on Friday between the Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders over their respective ties—or lack thereof—to the fossil fuel industry led both campaigns to accuse the other of spreading false information. The spat, which began with the circulation of a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO-sgjJ36eo&ebc=ANyPxKrgz0%5F44%5FldkpkvOZfpK8-ZXH%5FIO1u7%5FwtRaqubbOjPPMTOvi%5FooPbw7GFbkeZYdmd5hwmuPc6gkvi6dg1GBkd64I7qyg) showing Hillary Clinton lose her cool when confronted by a Greenpeace activist, centered largely on the narrow debate over what constitutes a donation from the fossil fuel industry. But the video—filmed at a [Thursday rally](http://time.com/4278203/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-protesters-new-york/) and released by Greenpeace—also may also have brought climate change the most attention the issue has received in nearly a year of non-stop campaigning. Clinton dispatched New York Mayor Bill De Blasio to defend her record of pushing for measures to combat global warming while Sanders’ campaign manager suggested that his rival would not follow through on her promises because of her connections to energy companies. Democratic voters see climate change as a key election issue in this election cycle with 68% of the party’s voters calling it a “very serious problem,” according to a Pew Research [report](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/06/the-u-s-isnt-the-only-nation-with-big-partisan-divides-on-climate-change/). But nonetheless global warming has received little attention in the presidential race. That may be because there’s not much to talk about. Both candidates have laid out [aggressive](http://time.com/3972710/hillary-clinton-presidential-election-climate-change/) [plans](http://time.com/4138246/bernie-sanders-climate-change/) to reduce carbon emissions that make those President Obama’s [initiatives look tame](http://time.com/4018544/obama-climate-change-alaska/). Clinton aims to produce 33% of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2027 while Sanders aims for 100% renewable energy by 2050\. Both [opposed the Keystone XL pipeline](http://time.com/4045344/hillary-clinton-keystone-pipeline-decision/). More recently ahead of the New York primary, both have said they support the state’s ban on oil and gas fracking. Indeed, most political groups focused on the environment have remained neutral in the contest. That’s why it makes sense that this week’s feud would be centered on a highly-technical debate. Clinton—like any other candidate for federal office—is legally barred from taking any direct money from corporations. She can and does take money from the people employed by fossil fuel companies. But so has Sanders. The Sanders campaign argues that Clinton has relied on fossil fuel lobbyists to raise money, and that’s fundamentally different. “You cannot take on an industry if you take their money,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders campaign manager, in a statement_._ “If the Clinton campaign wants to argue that industry lobbyists giving thousands of dollars to her campaign won’t affect her decisions if she’s elected, that’s fine.” But no matter how you define a fossil fuel donation, either Democratic presidential candidate would be the most ardent supporter of addressing climate change ever to be nominated as a candidate for president from a major political party. _— With reporting by Sam Frizell_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4279742/climate-change-democratic-race/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4279742/climate-change-democratic-race/"},"headline":"The Environment Is Finally Making an Impact on the Democratic Race","datePublished":"2016-04-01T23:18:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:59.565Z","description":"Kind of","url":"https://time.com/4279742/climate-change-democratic-race/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9e7c450c9befb62/69888d763c16395a9d45cac9/clinton1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9e7c450c9befb62/69888d763c16395a9d45cac9/clinton1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hillary Clinton","caption":"Hillary Clinton","creditText":"Seth Wenig—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4279742/climate-change-democratic-race/","name":"The Environment Is Finally Making an Impact on the Democratic Race"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Candidates: Watch a Hillary Clinton Rally In Super Slow Motion","description":"This video shows you Hillary Clinton at almost 1000 frames per second.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Dy4mocJQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-05T23:35:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Dy4mocJQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4279742/climate-change-democratic-race/","duration":"PT5M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4279742/climate-change-democratic-race/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```