Climate Change: "The Most Important Issue This Election Forgot"

"A hurricane floods two battleground states mere weeks before a Presidential election; its fury stoked by ocean waters warmed in part by climate change. Seems like a recipe for a question or two about the greatest environmental challenge faced by the U.S., an issue that starkly divides the candidates and their parties, no? Not in 2016, even when Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc in North Carolina, Florida and other places in the South less than 48 hours before a televised debate.

In the debates and the vast majority of the coverage of this historic election, climate change has come up empty. The pattern echoes the 2012 election, which saw few climate questions despite huge differences between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on what to do about global warming as well as Romney’s apparent flip-flop on the issue, usually sure bait for a television journalist.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could not differ more on climate change. Trump has tweeted that it is a hoax dreamed up by the Chinese to hamper U.S. business, an idea perhaps reinforced by China’s main climate negotiator calling on him to uphold the terms of the Paris Agreement if elected. Though he later called the tweet a joke, Trump’s energy policy certainly treats climate change as a hoax."

David Biello reports for PBS NewsHour November 4, 2016.

SEE ALSO:

"Climate Change: The Forgotten Issue Of This Year's Election" (NPR)

"What The Election Outcome Will Really Mean For Climate And Energy" (Washington Post)

"Climate Change: The Missing Issue Of The 2016 Campaign" (Guardian: 7/7/2016)

"Amid Election Uncertainty, UN Vows Progress On Climate Deal" (CBS News)

"Why Climate Change Has Been Ignored In The US Election" (Deutsche Welle)

"The Unthinkably High Stakes For Climate Change That We’ve Completely Ignored This Election" (Vox)

"Hurricane Resurfaces Forgotten Election Issue: Climate Change" (National Geographic: 11/1/2012)