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The evening of the CNN town hall with Democratic candidates on the climate crisis lasted seven hours. But for political observers who desperately wanted more than a show of hands and in agreement with overly simplistic statements, it was a welcome marathon.
Wednesday night's programming covered a range of details on the most complex issue of our time, with 10 qualified candidates each with 40 minutes to answer questions and present their vision. It was remarkable to watch both the Amazon and the Arctic in flames. This raises an obvious question: why has the National Democratic Committee struggled so hard to prevent a climate debate?
For most of the summer, while 20 candidates were in Detroit and Miami, DNC President Tom Perez led a quiet campaign to prevent activists from holding a full debate on the issue. climate crisis. This showed that 82 percent of registered Democrats said the changing climate posed a major threat to the country's well-being, according to a statement. August survey by Pew Research Center. For some reason, the DNC was not interested.
"We can not wait!" Chanted young activists of the Sunrise Movement, which is fighting for the Green New Deal, at a recent meeting of the DNC. When DNC members rejected a resolution for an autonomous climate debate, activists responded: "The whole world is watching!"
Beto O'Rourke, the first candidate to develop a climate plan, called the decision of the DNC "as confusing as alarming". According to DNC rules, Democratic presidential candidates are not allowed to perform together outside official debates sanctioned by the DNC. There would have been concerns within the DNC that a "debate that prompted the proposed candidate to declare war on the fossil fuel industry was likely to cede to Trump gas-producing states like Pennsylvania by 2020".
Symone Sanders, Resolution Committee Member and Senior Advisor to Joe Biden, called the proposed climate debate "a dangerous territory in the middle of a primary process" even though almost all of the current Democrat candidates have publicly supported the concept.
Governor Jay Inslee of Washington, who is no longer a candidate for the presidency, m said The DNC told him that "if we participate in the climate debate of someone else, we would not be invited to future debates. It's deeply disappointing. Inslee had put climate change at the center of his short-term candidacy at the White House.
"The Democratic Party's response to climate change can not boil down to a few quick questions in early debates where, in 60 seconds, candidates simply say this is important and move on," Inslee said. "We need a full debate to determine who has the best plans to overcome this existential crisis, which has demonstrated the commitment that it will take to carry out this work and that includes the following. the scale of ambition necessary to carry out this mission. "
It should be noted that CNN has taken over the DNC.
"The climate is not a separate issue," said Senator Cory Booker during his speech. "It's the goal through which we have to do everything."
While CNN interfered with updates on the damage of Hurricane Dorian throughout the night, the 10 candidates expressed the same feeling of urgency. "We must act. Now. Now! Said former Vice President Joe Biden. Otherwise, the appearance of Biden at the town hall was not impressive and often confused. His best moment may have been the argument that his experience in building consensus in foreign policy is more important than the details of any candidate's plan.
"The fact is we represent 15% of the problem. The rest of the world accounts for 80, 85% of the problem, "said Biden. If we have done everything perfectly – and we must and must to get other countries to act – we must still make sure that the rest of the world comes forward and the fact is that we need to dramatically increase the stakes. "
But several candidates, such as Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Kamala Harris, have talked a lot about the problem and have condemned the previous inaction, while missing the details of any solution. Others, like Andrew Yang, have supported controversial solutions such as nuclear energy to argue that "in a crisis, all solutions must be on the table".
Senator Bernie Sanders, the only candidate for mayor, asked Yang to refrain from nuclear power altogether. Sanders called this a "false solution".
"It does not make much sense for me to add more hazardous waste to this country and the world when we do not know how to get rid of it now," said Sanders. "I think it's safer and more profitable to switch to sustainable energies such as wind, solar and geothermal energy."
Sanders' $ 16 trillion climate plan, released last month, seemed to be the threshold by which all other candidates were measured. "We are fighting for the survival of planet Earth," he said. "How is it not a major priority?"
But the star of the night may have been Senator Elizabeth Warren, with only one answer.
Warren is mocked by a question from CNN's Chris Cuomo about President Trump's recent retreat. settlement introduced under George W. Bush and finalized under Barack Obama to phase out the less effective light bulbs: "Do you think the government should take care to tell you what kind of light bulb you can have?"
"Oh come on, give me a break," Warren replied. "But that's exactly what the fossil fuel industry is hoping we all talk about. They want to be able to generate a lot of controversy around your light bulbs, your straws and your cheeseburgers, when 70% of the pollution, the carbon we throw in the air, comes from three industries. "
"This is where we have to focus," she added. "And why do not we focus here? Corruption!"
CNN showed that the DNC had little to fear from a debate on the climate crisis. Most candidates have avoided direct attacks against each other, let alone proclamations that could scare off crucial blocks of voters waiting. As Bernie Sanders clearly explained: "The coal miners of this country, the men and women who work on the oil rigs, are not my enemies. My enemy is climate change. "
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