Last night’s Democratic presidential debate ended without a single question—not one—about climate change. The omission has already drawn the ire of a number of presidential hopefuls, including Julian Castro and Tom Steyer who questioned why CNN and The New York Times, the debate’s two host organizations, overlooked such a vitally important issue.
To be fair, a number of candidates attempted to shoehorn climate change into discussions about other topics, like the economy, impeachment, and even Ellen’s friendship with Former President George W. Bush. Yet in the absence of a specific climate change question, candidates were unable to articulate their vision for addressing an issue that has consistently ranked among the top priorities for likely Democratic voters.
Last night’s debate is a red flag for anyone with even a remote interest in reversing the catastrophic effects of climate change. Unlike many of the other topics discussed—health care, foreign relations, the impeachment inquiry, the Supreme Court—a fairly sizable cohort of voters and, worse yet, elected officials likely see climate change as a temporally remote issue. This does not mean they think climate change is a hoax, but that they are not particularly concerned that it will have an overly negative impact on their lives in the immediate future. As such, climate change is much more susceptible to fading from public and policymaker consciousness, as least until the next major hurricane, drought, or wildfire event triggers yet another fleeting moment of alarmed rediscovery.
CNN appeared to be cognizant of this dilemma when it sponsored a seven-hour Climate Crisis Town Hall back in September. The Town Hall, which was widely applauded by the environmental community, provided a historic opportunity for candidates to articulate their climate plans. However, a one-off event will not suffice, especially since the viewership for town halls tends to pale in comparison to the actual debates. Instead, voters need to be consistently reminded of the urgency of this issue each and every time the candidates step on stage.
More alarming, last night’s debate suggests climate change remains, at best, a tertiary issue in the eyes of the mainstream media. This does not bode well for future policy change given that the media plays an instrumental role in helping to set the government agenda. If the media does not talk about climate change, then politicians are unlikely to concern themselves with climate change once they take office. This is especially true at the national level where the winning party is lucky to pass one—maybe two—signature pieces of legislation during a president’s first term in office. It is hard to imagine any of the current candidates prioritizing an issue that does not make it onto the short list of questions for a primary debate.
Nor should voters be confident that the Democratic Party will somehow fill the attention void left by the media. In November 2017, Robinson Meyer of The Atlantic called the Democrats “shockingly unprepared to fight climate change,” noting that the party lacked any sort of comprehensive plan to address the issue. While the recent climate renaissance is no doubt a welcome development for the environmental community, the sudden uptick in interest should be considered tenuous at best. It is imperative that the party use primary debates to crystallize climate change on the Democratic platform and provide voters with an opportunity to vet competing proposals.
The biggest loser of last night’s debate was not Tulsi Gabbard or Joe Biden or any other member of the Democratic Party for that matter. The biggest loser from last night’s debate was climate change, thanks in large part to sloppy preparation on the part of CNN and The New York Times. Democratic leaders need to act swiftly to address the fallout from last night’s debacle by demanding that at least one climate change question be included in all future debates.
Thank you Mr DeLeo for pointing out the elephant in the room . Hopefully climate change will one day be more important than divisive tweets that get the clicks.