Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumFlorida Is Burning, The Midwest Is Flooding: Why Aren't Dems Debating Climate?
(Common Dreams, 6/25/19). As Democratic presidential candidates made their way to Miami this week for the first primary debate of the 2020 election, the city hit its highest temperature ever recorded and a wildfire burned through more than 17,000 acres of the Everglades. Communities across the Midwest are still recovering from an onslaught of floods and tornadoes in recent months. More Americans than ever before are worried about climate change, realizing it will soon directly harm them and their neighbors, if it hasnt already.
Which is why you'd think it's a no-brainer for Democrats to spend one of their presidential primary debates having a national conversation about the climate crisis. After all, every major Democrat vying for the presidential nomination including frontrunner Joe Biden thinks we should have a debate focused on climate change. So do an overwhelming majority of Democratic primary voters, according to new data, as do the country's leading environmental and activist groups, like the Sunrise Movement, Greenpeace USA, Credo Action, Friends of the Earth, and 350.org.
Miami, the host city for the first debate, is staring down the barrel of 3 feet of sea level rise resulting from global warming. Yet our political and media establishment has failed spectacularly to give the climate crisis its due airtime: Only 1.5% of questions asked during the 2016 presidential primary debates were about climate change. The United Nations has told us, in no uncertain terms, that we have 10 years left to act to prevent worldwide ecological collapse, so a televised conversation among those vying to lead our country on the topic seems worthy of at least as much airtime as the birth of the royal baby.
Its a conversation worth having, because there are real differences among Democrats on how to approach the issue. Sure, nearly every candidate says they support the Green New Deal, but what that support actually means differs wildly from one candidate to the next. And big questions remain, like how quickly each wants to move the economy off fossil fuels, what role each envisions for nuclear energy in the decades to come, and how heavily we should lean on mythical tech magic like carbon capture to pull emissions out of the air.
A climate debate could force candidates to go beyond talking points, and ask each how theyll overcome fossil fuel industry opposition, ramp down emissions, and scale up renewable energy. It would also have a practical effect, requiring all two dozen Democratic candidates to study the issue thoroughly ...continued...
Read More, https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/25/florida-burning-midwest-flooding-why-arent-democrats-debating-climat Fla Is Burning. The Midwest Is Flooding. Why Aren't Democrats Debating Climate? Miami hit its highest temp ever recorded in the same week Democrats arrived for the first presidential debate. This isn't rocket science.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
JI7
(89,237 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
ancianita
(35,925 posts)impact.
The Pentagon knows. It can milk climate change threat two ways: get bigger budgets on the back end of climate change disasters to shore up its vulnerable 79 global bases that shore up our security,
Or become a partner in active preventive measures of a carbon capture and greening manhattan project that saves us all that crisis spending and saves us from eventual economic, medical, and military collapse.
Only one of these candidates knows the preventive value of taking $5 TRILLION given to Big Oil & Gas yearly and spending it on transforming our grid from fossil to clean energy.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Its just a chance to take shots at the party. The reality is if they had one that of course wouldnt be good enough and then there would be demands for two or three more. I also think its kind of unbelievable people think it wont come up in the many many debates ahead.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
crazytown
(7,277 posts)but not twenty.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
appalachiablue
(41,102 posts)when climate change will be discussed to assuage the protests and build confidence. I hope and think they will, it's good politics too.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
crazytown
(7,277 posts)from Beto, Biden, Inslee and Warren. Pete and Kamala have yet to set out detailed policy. There may be others, but a parade of zero percenters over two nights, count me out.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Response to appalachiablue (Original post)
crazytown This message was self-deleted by its author.
bluewater
(5,376 posts)But the steps taken to protect the climate and the urgency to implement them have been inadequate.
Hold a debate on climate change!
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
appalachiablue
(41,102 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
crazytown
(7,277 posts)20 candidates over two nights won't work. The main actors need to be together.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
pnwmom
(108,951 posts)change, and as long as he's on the stage he's going to make it a focus.
He needs more donors this quarter though, to keep his voice on the stage. If anyone can afford to donate a few dollars, please do so.
https://jayinslee.com/
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
brooklynite
(94,293 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
pnwmom
(108,951 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
bdamomma
(63,788 posts)children in prisons must be discussed. We have some serious issues in the country and they need to be addressed.
No piling on Democrats on that stage tonight they should present themselves as a Team.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
TwilightZone
(25,423 posts)"Climate change expected to take center stage during this weeks Democratic debates"
https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/06/23/climate-change-expected-to-take-center-stage-during-this-weeks-democratic-debates/
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
appalachiablue
(41,102 posts)there's a good deal of protest, maybe since the DNC isn't formally arranging this for tonight, IDK.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Kaleva
(36,238 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Indygram
(2,113 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
BeckyDem
(8,361 posts)natural resources, who is going to feel the brunt of climate change? Answer: Everyone, eventually.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
ecstatic
(32,641 posts)And not enough Americans see the connection between this crazy, unprecedented extreme weather and climate change.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden