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Hundreds of activists gathered outside the CNN studios at 30 Hudson Yards where a Town Hall on Climate Policy was held on Sept. 4. Erik McGregor / LightRocket / Getty Images
For the first time, Democratic contenders for President participated in a town hall solely focused on the climate crisis. For more than seven hours last night, 10 candidates fielded questions from an audience of Democratic voters and from CNN's moderators.
<p>After a summer of record <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/heat-waves">heat waves</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildfires</a> and ice melt, and on the heels of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-dorian" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hurricane Dorian</a> stalling over the Bahamas and dropping record rainfall, there were no longer softball questions about whether or not human-induced climate change is real. Instead, questions touched on many aspects of environmental damage, not just from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">coal</a> and cars, but also from farming, industry, human migration, adaptation, deforestation, trade, the food system and the racial and economic divide in the face of a changing climate, amongst several other topics.</p>
<p>Throughout the night, the candidates faced some straight forward questions from the moderators about light bulbs and plastic straws; the tough questions came from young people in the audience, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2019/democrats-climate-town-hall" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> pointed out. In fact, <a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1169402501470121989" target="_blank">one of the questions</a> seemed to rattle former Vice President Joe Biden. </p>
<p>"How can we trust you to hold these corporations and executives accountable for their crimes against humanity when we know that tomorrow you are holding a high-dollar fund-raiser hosted by Andrew Goldman, a fossil fuel executive?" asked Isaac Larsen, a 27-year-old Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern. </p>
<p>Biden then used an outsized portion of his 40-minutes to explain away his connections to Andrew Goldman, a co-founder of a liquid natural gas company. Biden was also <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/climate-crisis-town-hall-august-2019/h_34cc6c1ce9c1ca32ec6227e75f3e6931" target="_blank">asked by a 19-year-old</a> how her generation can trust him to prioritize their future over <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/big-business" rel="noopener noreferrer">big business</a>. </p><p>A high school student <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/09/04/julian-castro-fracking-cnn-climate-crisis-town-hall-2020-vpx-sot.cnn" target="_blank">asked Julian Castro</a> why he should be trusted when he supported fracking as mayor of San Antonio. Similarly, a college student asked Amy Klobuchar if she could actually stand up to the beef and dairy industry when they have so much influence in government and, in particular, Minnesota, which she represents in the Senate.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1169403430160482306" id="twitter-embed-1169403430160482306" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1169403430160482306&created_ts=1567642478.0&screen_name=EQVILIBRIS&text=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FxCe6YrKpiZ&id=1169403430160482306&name=darien+DignityRespectKindness+%28DRK%29" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="41J58Q1578578342"></iframe><p>Several of the candidates took exception to the questions that the moderators asked as too simplistic and too much an echo of conservative talking points. For example, being asked if the US should rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, Sen. Cory Booker bristled, ""I'm sorry. That is, like, a cost of entry even to run for president or talk about the presidency."<br></p><p>Elizabeth Warren was exasperated by Chris Cuomo's question about whether the government should regulate light bulb uses. She pointed out that it is a conservative talking point to the put the onus on the consumer rather than polluting industries, as <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/09/give-me-a-break-elizabeth-warren-just-cut-through-the-dumbest-climate-argument/" target="_blank">Mother Jones</a> reported. </p><p> "Oh come on, give me a break," <a href="https://youtu.be/MdbLtrnLkO8" target="_blank">Warren said to Cuomo</a>. "This is exactly what the fossil fuel industry wants us to be talking about. That's what they want us to talk about: This is your problem." </p><p>And, when Sen. Bernie Sanders was asked by Anderson Cooper if he would reinstate the light bulb requirement, he simply answered, "<a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/09/05/bernie-sanders-duh-trump-policy-lightbulbs-climate-town-hall-sot-vpx.cnn" target="_blank">Duh</a>!"</p>
<p>Some other notable moments came from Andrew Yang who offered creative solutions and knew how much of a carbon-tax he would like to levy. He also championed changing the calculation of gross domestic product <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/climate-crisis-town-hall-august-2019/h_4d415f1885140796a7419890dc57348f" target="_blank">to include environmental factors</a>. "Let's upgrade it with a new score card that includes our environmental sustainability and our goals," he said.</p><p>Sen. Kamala Harris said she would direct the Department of Justice to investigate oil and gas companies whose practices "are causing harm and death in communities. And there has been no accountability," she <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/climate-crisis-town-hall-august-2019/h_d40eef6688c0b2751777f6a0d259c095" target="_blank">said</a>.</p><p>Sanders boasted about his $16 trillion spending plan as the most serious approach to a mounting crisis. "We are fighting for the survival of the planet Earth, our only planet. How is this not a major priority?" Sanders asked during the town hall.</p><p>Sanders also unequivocally opposed nuclear power plants. "It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to add more dangerous waste to this country and the world when we don't know how to get rid of what we have now," he said, as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2019/democrats-climate-town-hall" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p>
<p>That differed from several other candidates. Both Andrew Yang and Sen. Booker championed nuclear power as a necessary ingredient for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 plan. Harris worried about waste, but said she would leave it up to the states to decide, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2019/democrats-climate-town-hall" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p>
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By Julia Conley
Though she has yet to unveil a climate action plan as part of her presidential campaign, Sen. Kamala Harris on Monday signaled her intent to keep low-income communities at the forefront of any efforts to stem the climate crisis.
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<p>The California Democrat joined Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/us/politics/kamala-harris-aoc-climate-change.html" target="_blank">introduce</a> bicameral legislation known as the Climate Equity Act, which would ensure that lawmakers keep in mind the positive and negative effects climate-related bills will have on vulnerable communities on the frontlines of the crisis, before voting for them.</p><p>"It is not enough to simply cut emissions and end our reliance on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>," Harris said in a <a href="https://www.harris.senate.gov/news/press-releases/harris-ocasio-cortez-announce-landmark-legislation-to-ensure-green-new-deal-lifts-up-every-community" target="_blank">statement</a>. "We must ensure that communities already contending with unsafe <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water" target="_self">drinking water</a>, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="_self">toxic air</a>, and lack of economic opportunity are not left behind. We need a Green New Deal based in climate and environmental justice, which means building a clean economy that protects communities that have been neglected by policymakers for far too long."</p>
<p>Under the Climate Equity Act, the two lawmakers said, all environment-related legislation would be given a rating based on the benefits and costs it would incur for low-income communities, which are often in easily-flooded areas or regions dominated by oil and gas refineries or other pollution-causing industry giants.</p><p>A legislative proposal's effects on vulnerable communities which have been polluted and subjected to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">flooding</a> that is worsening due to the climate crisis and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" rel="noopener noreferrer">rising sea levels</a> should be considered just as important as the financial cost of a bill, Ocasio-Cortez argued.</p><p>"We can't do anything without a [Congressional Budget Office] score, but we never actually consider if it's disastrous to communities as long as it's revenue-neutral," Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times<em>.</em></p><p>The Climate Equity Act would also require all federal grants and investment programs to undergo a review to make sure frontline communities will benefit and would require representatives from those regions to be "at the table" during those reviews.</p><p>Americans who have faced the most damage to their homes, livelihoods and health would be asked to provide "insights and comments on how to minimize negative impacts and maximize benefits of rules and regulations on frontline communities,"<a href="https://www.harris.senate.gov/news/press-releases/harris-ocasio-cortez-announce-landmark-legislation-to-ensure-green-new-deal-lifts-up-every-community" target="_blank">according to</a> Harris and Ocasio-Cortez's proposal.</p><p>Harris is among the 2020 Democratic candidates who have not yet shared a comprehensive climate action plan. As Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/29/slamming-use-poor-communities-dumping-grounds-corporate-polluters-jay-inslee-unveils" target="_blank">reported</a>, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday unveiled his Community Climate Justice proposal to establish a new Justice Department office focusing on holding corporate polluters accountable for the damage they do to poor communities.</p><p>Sen. Bernie Sanders (U-Vt.) <a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/combat-climate-change-and-pass-a-green-new-deal/" target="_blank">included</a> investment in frontline communities in his plan to pass a Green New Deal while Beto O'Rourke <a href="https://betoorourke.com/Climate-change/" target="_blank">pledged</a> to mobilize $1.2 trillion to help communities facing poor air or water quality.</p><p>The recent national focus on frontline communities is being welcomed by climate action groups which have worked for years to call attention to the effects of fossil fuel and chemical emissions on low-income areas.</p><p>"They are timely and they are needed, and they help us to begin to think critically about the steps that are going to be necessary to protect people's lives in the moment, and in these challenges that are rushing at us at a very quick pace," Mustafa Ali, who established the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice, told The New York Times<em>.</em></p><p>"This hasn't been how the U.S. has done environmental policy in the past," said political science professor Leah Stokes in a Twitter thread. "The question is: are we going to do the same thing as we address the climate crisis? Are we going to leave vast swathes of the U.S. behind, particularly communities of color? Or are we going to ensure that the Green New Deal centers justice? Harris and [Ocasio-Cortez] say, 'Let's center justice.'"</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/29/timely-and-needed-proposal-harris-and-aoc-introduce-bill-keep-frontline-communities?cd-origin=rss" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Sen. Kamala Harris held a news conference after announcing her bid for president on Jan. 21. PBS NewsHour / YouTube screenshot
Kamala Harris on Monday became the latest Democratic presidential contender to back a Green New Deal, in what has become a "litmus test" for 2020 hopefuls, according to the youth-led Sunrise Movement that helped launch the ambitious economic and climate proposal.
"I support a Green New Deal and I will tell you why," the California Senator said during a CNN town hall in Iowa. "Climate change is an existential threat and we have got to deal with the reality of it."
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Harris also took aim at the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-climate-change-weather-2626613514.html">climate skeptics in office</a>.
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"We have got to deal with the reality of the fact that there are people trying to peddle some ideas that we should deny it. They are peddling science fiction instead of what we should do, which is rely on science fact," she said at the town hall.
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jxUzp9SZ6-VB-4wSm8sselVMsqWZrSrYpYC9slHKLzo/edit" target="_blank">The Green New Deal</a>—made popular by freshman Rep. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-N.Y.)—aims to create a select committee of House members that would have the authority to "develop a detailed national, industrial, economic mobilization plan" to allow the United States to become carbon neutral and to "promote economic and environmental justice and equality."
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The increasingly popular plan has been <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/gnd/" target="_blank">backed by</a> at least 45 members of Congress and hundreds of environmental, social justice and political groups.
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As for the names vying for the 2020 presidential ticket, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as well as former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro have also backed the Green New Deal, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/427386-kamala-harris-endorses-ocasio-cortezs-green-new-deal" target="_blank">The Hill</a>.
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"It's becoming the new litmus test for every Presidential candidate: if you want to lead our nation and claim to represent young people, come out in FULL support of the Green New Deal," the Sunrise Movement tweeted after Gillibrand announced her support at a recent event in San Francisco.
</p><p>
"If mobilizing to confront the climate crisis is not one of your top 3 issues, it's going to be hard for our generation to take you seriously," the group also <a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/status/1089678713862660096" target="_blank">tweeted</a> to the presidential contenders. "Embrace it, or thank u, next."
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</p><p>Sen. Warren, who appeared on <em>The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell</em> on Monday, explained how her newly proposed wealth tax plan can help fund Green New Deal policies. </p><p>"How about we invest that in a Green New Deal, to help protect this planet?" she said. <br></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4aec082903dd5f68a57c26d4f5e16ee3"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/thelastword/videos/359415661556369/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>Also during the CNN town hall, Harris mentioned that the top two fastest-growing occupations on the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm" target="_blank">Bureau of Labor Statistics list</a> are installers for solar panels and wind turbine service technicians.<br></p><p>
"We need those jobs to be created and filled because we need to be dedicated to that kind of work, and that's what a Green New Deal has to include," she said.
</p><p>
She then lamented, "Our planet is at great risk ... we have policymakers who are in the pockets of big oil and big coal (and) don't fully appreciate the fact that we are looking at something that is presenting an existential threat to our country.</p><p>
"And, listen, all children need to be able to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and we've got to have a commitment to a policy that will allow that to happen for ourselves and our children and our grandchildren. And right now we don't," she concluded.</p>
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