Last Friday night, six candidates – Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, John Delaney, Joe Sestak, and Marianne Williamson – participated in the first-ever presidential forum focused on environmental justice. The event, hosted at South Carolina State University by the National Black Caucus of State Legislators along with several environmental and racial justice organizations and media partners, was moderated by Mustafa Santiago Ali and Amy Goodman.

The candidates discussed how environmental racism and injustice are impacting Indigenous people, communities of color, and low-income communities the hardest – making existing racial and economic inequities worse. Click here for highlights from the forum, including video clips and post-forum recaps »

The week’s other big climate-related event took place last Saturday in Iowa where Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined Bernie Sanders for a Climate Crisis Summit. 

 

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I have been around politics a few years and I cannot think of any member of Congress who has done more within one year to fundamentally transform American politics than @ocasio2018. She understands what Donald Trump does not, and that is that climate change is not a hoax but an existential threat to the planet. That is why she introduced the concept of a Green New Deal, and when we are in the White House, we will take on the corruption of the fossil fuel industry and pass the Green New Deal.

A post shared by Bernie Sanders (@berniesanders) on Nov 9, 2019 at 9:33am PST

Here are some additional climate highlights from the campaign trail this week:

• Michael Bennet visited a town in Iowa devastated by massive flooding.
• Joe Biden reiterated that the U.S. needs to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 during a CNN town hall.
• Cory Booker toured wind and solar installations in Iowa.
• Pete Buttigieg, campaigning in New Hampshire, said getting carbon neutral by 2050 would create an estimated 3 million jobs.
• Julián Castro addressed the intersection of disability issues and climate issues. 
• Tom Steyer said the climate crisis would be his #1 issue as president during a CNN town hall.
• Elizabeth Warren released a plan to hold fossil fuel executives accountable for lying to federal regulators. 

Finally, ahead of next week’s debate in Atlanta, don’t miss LCV President Gene Karpinski’s recent op-ed in the Concord Monitor:

The failure of moderators to ask a single question about the climate crisis during the most recent three-hour-long Democratic primary debate marks a surprising low point in what has so far been an encouraging – if not entirely satisfying – discussion of climate in the presidential primary. It was shameful. The dire circumstances we’re in simply demand more from the candidates and the media covering the Democratic primary.

Be sure to also check out this op-ed from Andy Maggi, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, and Rudy Zamora, Chispa Nevada Program director, in the Las Vegas Sun:

This Sunday, candidates have an opportunity to address the climate crisis front and center at the Nevada Democratic Party’s “First in the West” event. We know the candidates are well-versed on their strong plans, and to demonstrate that they are making this a day-one priority, the climate crisis and solutions must be a consistent and prominent feature of the message they convey to voters at this and every event.

As always, visit changetheclimate2020.com for additional climate highlights from the Democratic presidential primary.