is more than 260 million Americans Last week, the country experienced an unprecedented early summer “heat dome,” with temperature indices reaching over 100 degrees. Dozens of locations in New England recorded record temperatures..
This heat from climate change is Epic Floodlarge-scale forest fires ( 24 people are raging right now) and debilitating droughts. A heavy burden This is true both for average Americans and the U.S. economy as a whole.
But as the effects of climate change increasingly undermine public safety, health, and quality of life, the question is Ignored during the presidential debates.
of 2024 Presidential Election First Debate, Tomorrow’s debate in Atlanta must be different. It is time for the debate moderators, and the presidential candidates themselves, to address the climate disaster in detail and seriously.
Three-fifths of Americans More people now report that the impacts and costs of climate change are negatively impacting their quality of life, public safety, health, and household finances. Last year, the U.S. A record 28 billion-dollar weather disasters This has been exacerbated by record high temperatures.
is more than US health care costs to rise by $800 billion Every year, due to climate and pollution New Senate report Flooding, exacerbated by climate change, costs Americans between $180 billion and $500 billion each year, according to a new study. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners across the country Insurance is too expensive Insurers will either refuse to cover us or raise our premiums because of the costs of climate change. John Neal, CEO of Lloyd’s of London, said: Recently said“You’ll never find an insurance company that says, ‘I don’t believe in climate change.'”
Yet when it comes to presidential debates, moderators and candidates alike have ignored these enormous climate costs. No questionsDespite Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton having diametrically opposed views on climate science and policy, not a single question about climate change was asked by the moderator in the three presidential debates of 2016. A similar complete silence followed in the debates of 2012, 2000 and 1996. In 2020, just one question was asked: Falsely suggested climate science was in doubt .
Terrifying new climate science shows this is incredibly irresponsible. Over the past few years, the overheating of the planet due to rising greenhouse gas emissions has A record high of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit The Earth’s average temperature is above pre-industrial levels. Rising temperatures mean that the natural systems that stabilise the Earth’s climate are at risk of becoming destabilising forces. Climate tipping pointsAt stake are the collapse of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, thawing permafrost, loss of Arctic sea ice, global forest die-off and the disruption of ocean currents, all of which could cause further warming through effects such as: Methane emissions from the tundra .
These dangers have been underestimated by policy actors of all stripes because of a widespread misconception that the climate problem is linear, that small increases in emissions lead to small increases in warming. This fails to capture the unstable dynamics of the climate system. Climate-induced shocks in natural systems They can occur suddenly and overwhelmingly, dramatically changing conditions and destabilizing other natural systems.
But there is good news: we know how to prevent the worst climate impacts.
The most important action is Reducing super-climate pollutants;These include methane, hydrofluorocarbons, black carbon, and tropospheric ozone. Reducing these emissions will have the most effect on limiting near-term temperature rise and avoiding the worst tipping points.
At the same time, we must reduce carbon dioxide emissions to limit long-term temperature increases.
This year’s presidential candidates have very different approaches to climate change policy that should be fully explored in the debates. Joe Biden has vowed to limit the effects of climate change. A central focus of his administrationHe introduced legislation and regulations to cut methane and reduce fossil fuel and carbon dioxide emissions through clean energy. Biden also stressed that the United States cannot act alone. Force China and other major emitters to cut coal and methane emissions .
Meanwhile, former President Trump Attacking Joe Biden’s climate change policies This will be central to the 2024 election campaign. Trump has made renewable energy a “Scam business”They despise the need to limit emissions and instead advocate deliberate Doubling the fossil fuel economyand Asking the oil industry for $1 billionPresident Trump has vowed to reverse climate change policies, including incentives for clean energy. As was the case from 2017 to 2021.
Given the stakes in climate protection, CNN debate hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash should make this issue a key talking point, and both candidates should lay out clear plans for how they plan to protect our people, our economy, and our world.
Paul Bledsoe is a professor at the Environmental Policy Center at American University in Washington. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Department of the Interior, and the White House Climate Change Task Force under former President Bill Clinton.
