Hillary Clinton participated in a round-table discussion about manufacturing on Friday in Syrcause.Credit Mike Segar/Reuters
Updated, 6:01 p.m. | Hillary Clinton defended her commitment to combating climate change on Friday, after an eruption with Senator Bernie Sanders over whether she accepts campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry rattled the relatively civil Democratic contest as both candidates vie for support in New York.
A day after Mrs. Clinton grew enraged, telling a young climate change activist after a rally in Purchase, N.Y., that she was “sick of the Sanders campaign lying” about her accepting political donations from the fossil fuel industry, Mr. Sanders doubled down on the accusation, saying on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday that Mrs. Clinton had “taken significant money from the fossil fuel industry.”
The encounter on Thursday was not the first time Mrs. Clinton has been confronted by activists affiliated with Greenpeace, but it came as the two Democrats fight to win liberal support as the race turns toward New York’s April 19 primary.
Polls show that Mrs. Clinton’s significant lead in New York, her adopted home state, has narrowed in recent weeks, as Mr. Sanders’s promise to take on Wall Street and special interests has resonated with liberals in New York City and in economically hard-hit areas upstate.
On Thursday, Mr. Sanders, introduced by famous New Yorkers including the actress Rosario Dawson and the filmmaker Spike Lee, addressed a crowd of thousands of people in the South Bronx. Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, kicked off her New York campaign at a rally on Wednesday at the Apollo Theater.
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Senator Bernie Sanders at a rally on Thursday in the Bronx.Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times
On Friday, she held a round-table discussion at the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central high school, during which she unveiled a $10 billion proposal to bolster jobs in manufacturing. The event was the beginning of a concerted effort by Mrs. Clinton to win back the voters upstate who twice elected her a New York senator.
“We fundamentally believe her work in upstate New York really represents a blueprint or road map for people to follow in looking at what she will do as president in terms of creating good-paying jobs,” Mrs. Clinton’s policy director, Jake Sullivan, told reporters.
But the environment, in particular the candidates’ positions on hydraulic fracturing, is also a driving issue for Democratic voters in New York, one that was thrust to the forefront this week.
The back and forth began on Thursday when the Greenpeace USA activist asked Mrs. Clinton to pledge to reject fossil fuel contributions. Mrs. Clinton tersely responded, saying: “I am so sick — I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me. I am sick of it.”
Later, her campaign addressed the issue.
“The simple truth is that this campaign has not taken a dollar from oil and gas industry PACs or corporations,” Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, said in a statement. “The simple fact is that the Sanders campaign is misleading voters with their attacks. The money in question is from individuals who work for these companies.”
On Friday, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign went a step further, enlisting New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, to defend the former secretary of state’s record on climate change. “Any suggestion that she is in anyone’s pocket on the issue of climate change, or on any other issue, is flat-out false and inappropriate,” Mr. de Blasio said on a conference call with reporters, calling fighting climate change a “central force” throughout Mrs. Clinton’s career.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, of the $157.8 million the Clinton campaign has raised over all, $307,561 has come from individuals who work in the oil and gas industries. The Sanders campaign has raised more than $50,000 from individuals who work in the oil and gas industries.
Jeff Weaver, Mr. Sanders’s campaign manager, said in a statement that it was “disappointing” that Mrs. Clinton has accused Mr. Sanders’s staff of lying on the issue of fossil fuel industry donations. “Fifty-seven lobbyists from the industry have personally given to her campaign and 11 of those lobbyists have bundled more than $1 million to help put her in the White House,” he said.
“If you include money given to super PACs backing Clinton, the fossil fuel industry has given more than $4.5 million in support of Clinton’s bid,” Mr. Weaver said.
