Youth-led climate group endorses Sanders for president

The Sunrise Movement is endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 president campaign, becoming the latest group to back him over Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a fellow progressive White House hopeful.

“We believe a Bernie Sanders Presidency would provide the best political terrain in which to engage in and ultimately win that struggle for the world we deserve,” the youth-led climate group said in a Medium post.

“Bernie Sanders knows that winning a world with social, racial, economic, and environmental justice … a world in which we stop climate change, create millions of good jobs, and enact a new social contract for the 21st Century through a Green New Deal — cannot be achieved by one President or even the government on its own,” it added. 

A clear majority, 76 percent, of Sunrise Movement’s members voted to endorse Sanders, the organization said in a statement. The candidate with the second-greatest support was Warren, who was favored by 17.4 percent of the group’s membership. 

The Sunrise Movement cited Sanders’s “political courage,” “holistic vision of the future” and “his commitment to building a cross-class, multi-racial movement” as reasons members voted for Sanders. 

“I am honored to receive their endorsement and look forward to working together to launch the Green New Deal and build a more just and equitable future,” Sanders said in a statement. 

The Vermont senator, in his Green New Deal climate plan, calls for achieving 100 percent renewable energy for electricity and transportation by 2030 and decarbonization of the economy by 2050. He has also called for a $16 trillion investment in fighting climate change.