Ignored in recent years, global warming returns to presidential debates
The climate crisis has finally made the grade, with a full ten minutes of the first presidential debate focused on global warming and climatic change. Though it did not appear on his original list of topics, moderator Chris Wallace's questions to candidates about the climate crisis yielded differences.
Mostly absent from recent presidential debates. The last time debate moderators asked candidates to address climate change was in 2008. A report by policy group Climate Power shows how in the previous 12 years—except for those two questions— moderators have not asked candidates about global warming or the climate crisis.
Extreme weather —more frequent in 2020—has heightened public concern. Wildfires in the West have now burned more than 4 million acres in California; tropical cyclones in the Atlantic have included 25 named storms and three major hurricanes. A recent National Geographic poll shows that majorities of Democrats and Republicans understand that average global temperatures are rising, with some calling for a carbon tax as a means of reducing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Environment and voting According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, registered voters polled say climate change will be a very important (42%) or somewhat important (26%) issue in deciding how to vote in the presidential election.
U.S. is still the second largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions—according to the International Energy Agency, which measures CO2 emissions worldwide. (China is the leading contributor, and India is 3rd.)
Below are excerpts of the first presidential debate—entire transcript available here—including links to relevant studies, articles, and keyword definitions about atmospheric warming and impacts. We've edited extensively to avoid redundancy, ambiguity, and discourtesy. Our aim is to promote discussion of complex phenomena as we approach the 2020 elections, and comprehension of our choices as individuals and communities.
Moderator Chris Wallace had a tough job wrangling the candidates. Still, he persisted, getting both candidates to go on the record with their views on climate science, impacts of global warming, pollution, fuel economy standards, fracking, and our transition to renewable energy. Their responses give some insight into what solutions they envision.
For more information, visit the candidates' websites:
Also, check out www.srhub.org for the latest in sustainability news from newsrooms around New Jersey.
Chris Wallace: (48:53) (to President Donald Trump)
The forest fires in the West are raging now. They have burned millions of acres. They have displaced hundreds of thousands of people… Over your four years, you have pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accord. You have rolled back a number of Obama Environmental records, what do you believe about the science of climate change and what will you do in the next four years to confront it?
President Donald J. Trump: (49:27)
I want crystal clean water and air. I want beautiful clean air. We have now the lowest carbon… If you look at our numbers right now, we are doing phenomenally. But I haven’t destroyed our businesses. Our businesses aren’t put out of commission. If you look at the Paris Accord, it was a disaster from our standpoint. (...) As far as the fires are concerned, you need forest management. In addition to everything else. (...) You’ve got to have forest management.
Chris Wallace: (50:09)
What do you believe about the science of climate change, sir?
President Donald J. Trump: (50:13)
I believe that we have to do everything we can to have immaculate air immaculate water and do whatever else we can that’s good. We’re planting a billion trees, the Billion Tree Project and it’s very exciting for a lot of people.
Chris Wallace: (50:25)
You believe that human pollution, gas, greenhouse gas emissions contributes to the global warming of this planet?
President Donald J. Trump: (50:32)
I think a lot of things do, but I think to an extent, yes. I think to an extent, yes, but I also think we have to do better management of our forest. Every year I get the call. California’s burning, California’s burning. If that was cleaned, if that were, if you had forest management, good forest management, you wouldn’t be getting those calls. In Europe, they live they’re forest cities. They call forest cities. They maintain their forest. They manage their forest. I was with the head of a major country, it’s a forest city. He said, “Sir, we have trees that are far more, they ignite much easier than California. There shouldn’t be that problem.”
Chris Wallace: (51:25)
But sir if you believe in the science of climate change, why have you rolled back the Obama Clean Power Plan which limited carbon emissions and power plants? Why have you relaxed…?
President Donald J. Trump: (51:35)
Because it was driving energy prices through the sky.
Vice President Joe Biden: (51:38)
Why have you relaxed fuel economy standards that are going to create more pollution from cars and trucks?
President Donald J. Trump: (52:08)
(...) The car has gotten so expensive because they have computers all over the place for an extra little bit of gasoline. And I’m okay with electric cars too. I think I’m all for electric cars. I’ve given big incentives for electric cars but what they’ve done in California is just crazy.
Chris Wallace: (52:34)
All right, Vice president Biden. I’d like you to respond to the president’s climate change record but I also want to ask you about a concern. You propose $2 trillion in green jobs. You talk about new limits, not abolishing, but new limits on fracking. Ending the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity by 2035 and zero none admission of greenhouse gases by 2050. The president says a lot of these things would … cost millions of jobs.
Vice President Joe Biden: (53:03)
(...) in fact, during our administration in the recovery act, I was in charge able to bring down the cost of renewable energy to cheaper than are as cheap as coal and gas and oil. Nobody’s going to build another coal fired plant in America. No one’s going to build another oil fire plant in America. They’re going to move to renewable energy.
(...) We’re going to make sure that we are able to take the federal fleet and turn it into a fleet that’s run on their electric vehicles. Making sure that we can do that, we’re going to put 500,000 charging stations in all of the highways that we’re going to be building in the future. We’re going to build a economy that in fact is going to provide for the ability of us to take 4 million buildings and make sure that they in fact are weatherized in a way that (...) the heat will not be going out. There’s so many things that we can do… to create thousands and thousands of jobs. We can get to net zero, in terms of energy production, by 2035.
Not only not costing people jobs, creating jobs, creating millions of good-paying jobs. Not 15 bucks an hour, but prevailing wage, by having a new infrastructure that in fact, is green. And the first thing I will do, I will rejoin the Paris Accord (...) because with us out of it, look what’s happening. It’s all falling apart. And talk about someone who has no relationship with foreign policy. The rainforests of Brazil are being torn down, are being ripped down. More carbon is absorbed in that rainforest than every bit of carbon that’s emitted in the United States. Instead of doing something about that, I would be gathering up and making sure we had the countries of the world coming up with $20 billion, and say, “Here’s $20 billion. Stop tearing down the forest.
…
Chris Wallace: (56:14)
I actually have studied your plan, and it includes upgrading 4 million buildings, weatherizing 2 million homes over four years, building one and a half million energy efficient homes. So the question becomes, the president is saying, I think some people who support the president would say, that sounds like it’s going to cost a lot of money and hurt the economy.
…
Vice President Joe Biden: (56:46)
The fact is, it’s going to create millions of good paying jobs, and these tax incentives for people to weatherize, which he wants to get rid of. It’s going to make the economy much safer. Look how much we’re paying now to deal with the hurricanes … we spend billions of dollars now, billions of dollars, on floods, hurricanes, rising seas. We’re in real trouble. Look what’s happened just in the Midwest with these storms that come through and wipe out entire sections and counties in Iowa. They didn’t happen before. They’re because of global warming. We make up 15% of the world’s problem. But the rest of the world, we’ve got to get them to come along. That’s why we have to get back into the Paris Accord.
…
President Donald J. Trump: (57:56)
So why didn’t you get the world… China sends up real dirt into the air. Russia does. India does. They all do. We’re supposed to be good. And by the way, he made a couple of statements. The Green New Deal is a hundred trillion dollars.
Vice President Joe Biden: (58:08)
That is not my plan [crosstalk 00:58:10]. The Green New Deal [crosstalk 00:58:14] is not my plan. [crosstalk 00:58:15]-
…
Chris Wallace: (58:53)
The Green New Deal and the idea of what your environmental changes will do-
Vice President Joe Biden: (58:57)
The Green New Deal will pay for itself as we move forward. We’re not going to build plants that, in fact, are great polluting plants-
Chris Wallace: (59:05)
So, do you support the Green New Deal?
Vice President Joe Biden: (59:08)
No, I don’t support the Green New Deal (…) I support [crosstalk 00:59:17] the Biden plan that I put forward.
Chris Wallace: (59:19)
Okay.
(59:24)