Democrat Mandela Barnes Wants ‘Clean Energy’ Economy: ‘Climate Crisis Is Already Here’

Democrat Mandela Barnes, during Friday night’s debate with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), said that the “climate crisis is already here” and “impacting places all over the country and globe,” which is why he wants to work towards a “clean energy economy.”

When asked about specific solutions to address climate change, he argued the “climate crisis is already here; it’s impacting places all over the country, over the globe, Wisconsin specifically.”

Barnes emphasized that “this is our future,” with his solutions being to reduce carbon emissions and “move towards a clean energy economy and make sure Wisconsin is in the driver’s seat.”

In 2020, when the Democrat candidate chaired the “Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change,” he attempted to promote a climate change report he helped author during his time on the task force that called for avoiding all fossil fuel infrastructure investments and divestment from fossil fuel stocks.

The 120-page report made 55 recommendations and included an acknowledgment that stated, “The work that led to this report took place on land that was stolen from indigenous people.”

During an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio to promote the report, he explained that there were not any funding projections associated with the actionable items because it was not politically expedient to reveal the plan’s cost to taxpayers.

“[I] wanted to leave the door open” because “the thing is a lot of people who would like to use certain numbers as a cudgel,” Barnes said. “They would like to use those numbers to beat us over the head and say, ‘oh, this is very unrealistic.’”

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.