Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in a Bloomberg opinion piece Tuesday that he will not be running for president in 2020.
“So as I’ve thought about a possible presidential campaign, the choice before me has become clear,” he wrote. “Should I devote the next two years to talking about my ideas and record, knowing that I might never win the Democratic nomination? Or should I spend the next two years doubling down on the work that I am already leading and funding, and that I know can produce real and beneficial results for the country, right now?”
“I’ve come to realize that I’m less interested in talking than doing,” he said. “And I have concluded that, for now, the best way for me to help our country is by rolling up my sleeves and continuing to get work done.”
Bloomberg outlined some initiatives he planned to focus on rather than running for president.
“I will expand my support for the Beyond Coal campaign so that we can retire every single coal-fired power plant over the next 11 years,” he promised.
He also said he was launching a new initiative called "Beyond Carbon," which would be a "grassroots effort to begin moving America as quickly as possible away from oil and gas and toward a 100 percent clean energy economy."
He dismissed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s (D-NY) Green New Deal resolution for fighting climate change, arguing that it “stands no chance of passage in the Senate over the next two years.”
“Mother Nature does not wait on our political calendar, and neither can we," he emphasized.
He added that his foundation will continue to address gun violence, the racial achievement gap in schools, and college access for low-income students.
“I hope those who have urged me to run, and to stand up for the values and principles that they hold dear, will understand that my decision was guided by one question: How can I best serve the country?” he concluded.
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