Climate Change And The 2020 Vote

Wildfires, Flooding and Droughts Could Make Climate Change an Issue in 2020. Some Are Pushing for It to Be the Top One

Justin Worland, March 6, 2019 (Time Magazine)

“For years, climate change has been the also-ran of presidential campaign issues, even as the threat has become steadily more serious. Vice President Al Gore, who spent the previous decade calling for action, didn’t center his campaign around the issue during his run in 2000. Barack Obama and John McCain both talked about fighting climate change in 2008, but global warming was dwarfed as an issue by Iraq and the economy. And in 2016, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump did not receive a single question on the issue over the course of three debates. Now, activists, environmentalists and some politicians think the dynamic has shifted, in part because voters are starting to see the effects of climate change in real time…

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“…[T]hose on the front lines of climate change politics say it’s no longer enough for it to be just one of several top issues. With time running out to cut greenhouse gases in order to stave off the worst-case scenarios, they say presidential contenders need to commit to making it their No. 1 issue when they take office…With the 2020 election more than 600 days away, several key players are working to push climate change to the top of the agenda, at least for the Democratic nominee…[The Green New Deal calls] for the U.S. to decarbonize by 2030 — an aggressive goal that could require trillions of dollars in investment...Supporters argue the costs of inaction would be far higher…[Many candidates] seem more animated by kitchen table issues like health care and economic inequality…[but the] urgency of global warming is much easier to understand when your backyard is on fire or you’re wading through your neighborhood…” click here for more

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