In the first Democratic Debate Jay Inslee, who says he is running on climate change as the one overriding issue, was asked if his plan would save Miami. If you didn’t hear his answer you can easily find it online, but it starts with “Yes,” so you know he missed his chance.
The right answer: “The fact that you even ask that question demonstrates that you have no idea of the seriousness of what we are facing. The polar ice caps are melting. We have passed the tipping point where the warming of the arctic has set off feedback loops that make the complete melting of those ice caps inevitable. When the Greenland ice sheet melts, sea level will rise by 20 feet. When the antarctic ice sheets melt it will be another 20 feet. Miami is now exactly at sea level. It is going to be 40 feet beneath the ocean. That may take a century, but within 10-20 years Miami will be 2-5 feet underwater.
“No, my plan won’t save Miami. Nobody’s plan will save Miami. Miami is finished. The question is not how to save Miami, but how to safely and effectively retreat from it. Twenty years ago we could have taken actions to stop climate change. All we can do now is plan to survive it.”