Jon Queally / Common
Dreams
Sen. Bernie Sanders received
widespread applause during Thursday night’s Democratic Party presidential
debate when he challenged what he considered a flimsy question on the issue of
the climate crisis and then offered a far-reaching critique about a global
system in which trillions are spent on war and destruction but similar
investments are not made to address the emergency of global heating.
After Tim Alberta, Politico’s
chief political correspondent and one of the debate moderators, asked
candidates if they would support federal funding to relocate communities
threatened by rising sea levels and flooding rivers, Sanders took issue with
the premise of the question.
“With all due respect, Tim,
your question misses the mark,” Sanders said.
“It is not an issue of
relocating people from towns,” Sanders continued. “The issue now is whether we
save the planet for our children and grandchildren. The issue, as you should
know, what the scientists are telling us, is that they have underestimated the
threat and severity of climate change. We’re talking about the Paris
Agreement—that’s fine—it ain’t enough.”
Sanders continued by saying
the nation must “declare a national emergency” and touted legislation he has
proposed to do exactly that.
“The United States has got to
lead the world, and maybe—just maybe—instead of spending $1.8 trillion a year,
globally, on weapons of destruction,” he continued, “maybe an American
president (ie. Bernie Sanders) can lead the world. Instead of spending money to
kill eachother, maybe we pool our resources and fight our common enemy which is
climate change.”
Watch:
Rejoining the Paris Agreement
ain't enough.
The issue now is whether we save the planet for our children and grandchildren.
We need a Green New Deal. #DemDebate
The issue now is whether we save the planet for our children and grandchildren.
We need a Green New Deal. #DemDebate
Climate campaigners applauded
the answer as the top moment of the debate up to that point.
.@BernieSanders redirects the #DemDebate questions
on the climate crisis with some perspective:
"The issue now is whether we save the planet for our children and grandchildren."
Biggest applause so far of the night.
"The issue now is whether we save the planet for our children and grandchildren."
Biggest applause so far of the night.
“Thank you
BernieSanders,” tweeted Friends
of the Earth, “for continuing to call for the bold solutions that match the
scale of crisis we are facing.”
No comments:
Post a Comment