Jay Inslee, currently polling at 0.0% (Real Clear Politics doesn’t even mention him, and CNN said his campaign is pretty much over), has made his campaign all about anthropogenic climate change. And, despite that 0.0%, he says it’s a winning issue in a NY Times op-ed
I’ve heard it my whole career, from pundits, special interests and even political consultants: Just shut up about climate change if you want to be elected. They set up a false dichotomy between the economy and the environment, saying you can’t fight for good jobs and for clean air.
That was bad advice then, and it’s even worse advice now. There is a change happening: Americans really feel climate change in their daily lives — and they are demanding leadership from their politicians like never before.
In my campaign, I’ve seen how climate change — and the coal, oil and gas industries fueling it — have become personal problems for many families.
As he takes lots of fossil fueled travel around the country to push an issue that he really couldn’t get passed multiple times in referendums in the state of Washington, for which he is governor.
The science is clear: We must take major action to reduce carbon pollution in the next decade, or our communities and our children’s lives will suffer dramatic and irreparable harm. The next president will choose whether America leads the world in building a clean energy economy, or we leave our communities facing turmoil and destruction. Climate change cost the United States economy at least $240 billion per year during the past decade, and that figure is projected to rise to $360 billion per year in the coming 10 years. We cannot afford the costs of inaction.
They sure felt like inaction was perfectly fine in his state, eh?
So it is time for Democrats to ignore the standard inside-the-Beltway thinking that talking about the environment risks electoral defeat. The politics of climate change have changed. And the clearest proof point comes from an unlikely source: President Donald Trump himself.
If you’re guessing this is also an anti-Trump rant, you’d be correct.
The days of Democratic fear should end now: We’re not going to win on climate by running the same duck-and-cover campaigns of the past, nor by offering “middle-ground†approaches that fail to confront this challenge. More than ever, Americans want bold solutions to the climate crisis. Democrats can beat Donald Trump if we elect a nominee who will challenge him on this issue.
My candidacy is unique: No other presidential candidate has said that defeating climate change must be our nation’s top priority. My plan will launch a national mobilization to move America to 100 percent clean energy, create eight million jobs, end our addiction to fossil fuels, ensure a just economic transition for fossil fuel workers, assist the communities who are being hit worst by this crisis, and commit to a more ambitious Paris climate agreement.
Zero point zero percent. A lot of people may say they care, may say they are concerned, but, that’s strictly theory. In practice, most do not care, and, again, most aren’t willing to spend more than $10 a month on Hotcoldwetdry.
We will defeat Donald Trump by attacking his failures on climate change, not by running from the issue.
Zero point zero.
