Clinton comes out against Keystone XL pipeline in Des Moines stop

DES MOINES - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told an Iowa town hall meeting Tuesday she opposes the Keystone XL pipeline. Instead, she prefers to shift the focus toward renewable energy sources and away from fossil fuels.

Clinton said she avoided taking a position on a project with Canada that started when she was secretary of state. But she said voters need to know her position on a project that she worries has become an impediment to addressing climate change and other environmental concerns.

'It is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it is - a distraction from the important work that we have to do to combat climate change,” she said. 'And, unfortunately, from my perspective, (it's) one that interferes with our ability to move forward with all the other issues. Therefore, I oppose it and I oppose it because I don't think it's in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change.”

In Iowa earlier this summer, Clinton said she would not comment on the process of reviewing the proposed Keystone project until the Obama administration formalized its opinion on the project. At the time, she was promoting her plans to have 500 million solar panels installed nationwide by the end of her first term and generate enough renewable energy through incentives and partnerships to power every U.S. home within a decade.

However, Clinton said repeated questions on the campaign trail and the slow pace of the Keystone decision prompted her to reveal her opposition. She expressed concerns that existing pipelines leak and she said the focus should be on repairing them and creating jobs related to clean-energy alternatives.

Critics on left and right

Democratic and Republican opponents criticized Clinton.

'On issue after issue - marriage equality, driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, children fleeing violence in Central America, the Syrian refugee crisis, and now the Keystone Pipeline, Secretary Clinton has followed - not forged - public opinion. Leadership is about stating where you stand on critical issues, regardless of how they poll or focus group,” former Gov. Martin O'Malley said in a statement. 'The American people want a president who will lead - not just someone who will tell them what they want to hear.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus released a statement saying Clinton had been 'blatantly dishonest” for insisting that her work on Keystone at the State Department prevented her from taking a position on the pipeline.

'Clearly, Hillary Clinton's rapid decline in the polls and the prospect of the vice president entering the race caused her to change course,” Priebus said. 'But instead of backing a job-creating project the American public overwhelmingly supports, Hillary Clinton has sided with extreme special interests, reinforcing how out of touch she is and that she'll say or do anything to get elected.”

Prescription drug costs

Clinton stopped Tuesday at a Des Moines elementary school to unveil her plan to curb prescription drug costs while encouraging innovation, research and development.

Clinton said as president she would demand a stop to excessive profiteering and marketing costs by encouraging innovation and new treatments from drug companies. She would eliminate corporate write-offs for direct-to-consumer drug company advertising, lower costs for Americans by limiting out-of-pocket spending, increasing competition, and she would allow Medicare to leverage Americans' negotiating power to contain drug costs.

Pitch for gun control

During questions and answers, Clinton told state Rep. Marti Anderson, a Des Moines Democrat, she supports 'sensible gun-violence prevention programs and laws.”

'I know that that's politically difficult, but I don't care,” she said. 'I am sick of the mass killings and I'm sick of the everyday killings that happen in our neighborhoods and our homes because people are too quick to grab a gun.”

During a 90-minute meeting later with the Des Moines Register's editorial board, Clinton was asked about the fascination with 'outsider” candidates such as billionaire businessman Donald Trump and how establishment candidates will fare in the anti-Washington voter environment.

'The idea that Americans are looking for somebody who's never been elected to anything, who's never had to deal with the Congress, who has never negotiated with a foreign country on matters of life or death - I do not think that has staying power. But I think right now, there's a lot of energy behind it because of people's frustrations.”