Al Gore on climate debate

[melman]

Link to tweet

[elleng]

1. What's wrong with a 'forum?'

Format may be more free.

[ehrnst]

13. +1000 A debate is the wrong vehicle for such an important issue. A candidate's forum

like the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2008 Health Care reform candidates' forum or the She the People candidates' forum on racial justice really lets the candidates answer questions, not simply go after others on stage.

Each candidate could get 20 minutes to present their plan, then would be questioned for 40 minutes by non-partisan environmental scientists and policy experts about various parts of the plan.

Here's an example of what KFF did in 2008. This is the kind of in-depth presentation and discussion that each candidate needs to really show what their priorities are:

&t=30s&fbclid=IwAR23gC2NY8XabExz6cCyCrRwtND8VipEp34NiLmVEppqihWI1WPzYmMl0c4

[melman]

2. I can't help but notice a distinct lack of replies

from some that had a whole lot to say about this topic in other threads.

I guess they can't parse their way out of this one. Thus it is ignored. And so it goes...

[msongs]

3. there was a more active discussion on this earlier today nt

[Blue_true]

5. NO single issue debate. That just opens up a rat's nest.

Some democrats truly believe that racial issues could harm us before the climate does. Do we have a single issue debate on that topic? If we do, WHICH segment of the many headed issue of race and racial history in America does our candidates debate?

How about LGBTQ rights and safety. People are dying right now.

How about abortion rights and prenatal care for POC? People are dying right now.

A single issue debate is a horrid idea.

[Blue_true]

4. I take the side of people that are saying a single issue debate is a bad idea.

There are many issues that are vital to some part of the Democratic Party. To list a few:

Reparations for slavery and segregation.

Reparations to American Indians and improving life on reservations.

Income inequality in general, non-race based (the rich-others gap).

Gender rights for women and LGBTQ people.

Sexual harrassment in business and the military.

There are many others that are as pressing as climate change in the minds of some Democratic Party factions. Do we have single issue debates on all of them?

[jcgoldie]

7. this is a ridiculous argument

Oh if we let them have a debate on climate then everybody's gonna want their own debate... really? Who the fuck cares the planet is on fire and 1/2 the country is ignoring it. That's the point of directing attention to it with a debate.

[Blue_true]

23. I personally believe that excessive guns in the wrong hands is a more present danger

than climate. Maybe I believe that way because there are ways to help the climate (plant more trees and plants that have a 24 hour carbon sequestration cycle like aloe, and agave). Guns is a different matter, if we don't get control of them fast people will be dying in large numbers eventually as we have mass shootings every week or day as people grow more deluded and angry. People that are not killed or don't even get involved in a mass shooting likely will develop psychological problems due to fear of being in a mass shooting. So I would want a single issue debate on gun control because that tops my list, I am sure there are many others like me. So my point is not ridiculous. We should not pick one issue out of several critical ones and say that is far and away more important than the others, that is not to say that climate change should not be the consensus number one risk on average, only an idiot would argue against that, but does it deserve it's own debate, my answer is no.

[SeattleVet]

6. While there are many other pressing issues...

none of them rise to anywhere near the level of being the overarching existential threat to humanity that catastrophic climate change is.

If we don't talk about this as a standalone topic it will be shuffled into a morass of other topics and buried in the ensuing media coverage.

I am all for focusing on this one specific topic for one of the debates. It is one of the biggest areas where we can stand united against the anti-science party that we need to massively defeat in the coming election. We need to rejoin the rest of the world in working to mitigate this as much as possible.

[Duppers]

9. +1000

The_jackalope posted this appropriate graphic a few weeks ago

[FirstLight]

10. +1000!

Agreed!
It's horrific to think the planet we live on has been ignored for so many decades
My teens and friends basically think they will be lucky to get another 20 years of "normal" life....which means it's just gonna get worse...

[EveHammond13]

8. what is there to debate about within our own party?

is this really the time to duke it out over the fine points of climate plans?

I have 100% confidence any elected Democrat will deal with it and will enlist the appropriate wide range of experts at our disposal. Done.

[JI7]

11. ok, how about Al Gore moderate the debate

so we can have a real discussion instead of what the other debates have been.

[jcgoldie]

21. good idea

[Uncle Joe]

12. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread melman.

[MadDAsHell]

14. The individual candidates' political careers are far more important than the future of the planet nt

[Autumn]

15. A climate debate is what's needed. Climate change needs to be brought to the front

of the discussion. Do you know who won't fucking discuss climate change? Republicans. If Democrats won't have a forum on this, the most important crisis facing humaity, it won't fucking be discussed on national TV.

[lapucelle]

16. The DNC is holding two televised candidate forums on climate change,

one on CNN and one on MSNBC. All candidates who qualify will be on stage together. The forums will be one hour long and will have a town hall format with members of the public participating. The forums were announced almost a month ago.

In a historic first, two climate forums announced for 2020 Democratic candidates
Climate change remains a key issue for Democratic 2020 contenders.
E.A. Crunden
Jul 26, 2019, 11:06 am

https://thinkprogress.org/democrats-climate-debate-forum-sunrise-movement-dnc-cnn-msnbc-
56d099e7748c/

CNN to host climate crisis town hall with 2020 Democratic candidates
By Kyle Blaine, CNN
Updated 5:28 PM ET, Thu July 25, 2019

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/25/politics/cnn-climate-crisis-town-hall/index.html

MSNBC and Georgetown to Host Multi-Day Climate Forum With 2020 Presidential Candidates
A portion of the event will be televised on Chris Hayes’ primetime MSNBC show.
Updated 07.26.19 4:38AM ET / Published 07.25.19 6:19PM ET

https://www.thedailybeast.com/msnbc-and-georgetown-university-to-host-multi-day-climate-forum-with-2020-presidential-candidates

[Autumn]

18. Forums are different from debates. A DNC debate will garner more attention. All issues are not equal

One and done.

[lapucelle]

19. It was "one and done" when someone made this mistaken claim

based on a campaign operative's misleading talking points:

If Democrats won't have a forum on this, the most important crisis facing huma[n]ity, it won't fucking be discussed on national TV.

Moving the goalposts by stating the obvious and then making an unsupported assertion doesn't help.

I'm glad that I'm smart enough not to trust a campaign operative who tells voters, "Don't believe WaPo, the NYT, CNN, and MSNBC. Believe me instead" and then tells lies that lead folks to repeat embarrassing, demonstratively false talking points.

[lapucelle]

17. Why is David Sirota sending out misleading and deceptive talking points

memos that leave voters with the impression that:

If Democrats won't have a forum on this, the most important crisis facing huma[n]ity, it won't fucking be discussed on national TV.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=250856

It is bewildering why any voter would trust a political operative who relies on the assumption that people are either misinformed or ill-informed concerning facts and who has no problem telling misleading tales with the hope and expectation that others will help to spread them.

[Eliot Rosewater]

20. The effort to sabotage ANY Democratic nominee is alive and well and a daily activity

[Autumn]

22. The Arctic and the Amazon are both on fire. It's happening now, and it's not going to get better.

But hey! Let's not have a debate about climate change because it's too "dangerous" and people might want to discuss other issues.