Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley Call for Feds to Halt Fossil Fuel Extraction on Public Lands

Democratic presidential hopeful, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley are calling for a halt on future leases of public land to extract fossil fuels, including gas, oil, and coal, and suspend current leases that aren't producing, Mekley's office announced in a press release Wednesday.

The two will unveil legislation Wednesday at a rally in Washington, D.C., designed to radically reduce the production of fossil fuels, which they say is necessary to prevent dangerous levels of global warming.

The bill, called the “Keep it in the Ground Act,” would also ban offshore drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. 

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