There has been growing pressure from green groups and presidential candidates Gov. Jay Inslee for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to host a debate with presidential candidates focused solely on the topic of climate change. This week the DNC called Inslee’s campaign to”[let them] know that they will not host a climate debate.” Furthermore, according to Inslee, they told him that if he participated in another climate debate, outside of the DNC, the candidate and current governor of Washington would not be invited to any of the highly anticipated and televised DNC debates.
This did not go over well with activist groups who said that the DNC is silencing their voices around the greatest challenge of our lifetime. Brandy Doyle, campaign manager for Credo Action, said in a statement Wednesday that the decision shows DNC chairman “Tom Perez doesn’t seem to care much about the climate crisis.”
Why This Matters: Check out Monica being asked about this topic on MSNBC’s Velshi and Rhule yesterday. The heat is on the DNC right to demonstrate that the Democratic party is committed to action on climate change and making that action part of the 2020 campaign dialogue. A debate focused on climate wouldn’t be narrow as climate encompasses countless other issues like healthcare, national security, and the economy–just to name a few. We have to think about immediate action which the next president will have to implement, therefore it’s critical to have an official platform for candidates to articulate their plans to the American public, many of whom are already feeling the effects of climate change firsthand.
June 7, 2019 » 2020, climate change, climate debate, DNC
