Town Hall Spotlights Democrats' Climate Change Proposals

Critics of the earliest Democratic candidate debates have noted a conspicuous lack of substantive and concentrated discussion on one of the great existential threats of the era: climate change. Neglect of the subject could change soon.

September 5, 2019, 6am PDT | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell

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The Democratic National Convention decided in June not to have an entire debate devoted to climate change, and CNN is stepping in to fill the void, with a town hall totaling seven hours of coverage devoted to a series of discussions of the topic by individual candidates. Writing for Vox, Umair Irfan explains the format of the event and also sets the television coverage in context. "That a major television network would devote so much time to a single issue is a sign of how important climate change has become for Democrats and how successful activists have been in elevating the issue."

Writing in a separate article for Curbed, Alissa Walker surveys the climate policy proposals of eight of the ten Democratic candidates for president that will appear at the next debates on September 12. On the same day of the article's publication, the remaining two candidates who hadn't yet released climate plans, Senator Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, did so.

Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman provide coverage of Harris's climate plan for The Washington Post. Umai Irfan provides coverage of Buttigieg's plan for Vox.

Writing for CBS News, Grace Segers also provides comprehensive coverage of the climate stances of the Democratic candidates.

Full Story:

Where the Democratic candidates stand on climate policy

Published on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 in Curbed