Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was number four in CNN’s seven-hour presidential town hall on climate, and Erin Burnett didn’t wait a moment before asking her first question: Just how big a crisis is climate change? Klobuchar, the third candidate in a row to refuse to sit down, cited Hurricane Dorian, the heat, and fires as proof of just how huge a problem it is, even if the Midwest is a bit behind on the fight against it. Klobuchar then declared that it must become “our mission,” much like the mobilization Americans managed during World War II.
Burnett then tossed to a Sierra Club member who shared Klobuchar’s comparison to the Greatest Generation. Klobuchar cited bullying she’d endured from Donald Trump and coyly shared his retort. She then launched into her First Seven Days plan:
On her first day in office, Klobuchar said she would reenter the Paris climate accord. On the second day, Klobuchar said, she would bring back clean power rules that President Barack Obama pushed but were rolled back by President Donald Trump. And on day three, she would do the same with gas mileage standards for US car companies.
Burnett then brought up Sen. Bernie Sanders’ $16 trillion price tag on his climate plan, and asked Klobuchar if that’s too much for a nation so deep in debt. Klobuchar downplayed the importance of cost in the face of saving the planet, and vowed infrastructure improvements and jobs would follow behind, so it’s essential to fund that, and environmental justice initiatives, through carbon taxes and other fees. Her end figure: two to three trillion. She seized the opportunity to differentiate herself from Sen. Sanders.
Next, a Fordham University student who’s a self-described Sanders supporter took the mike, and challenged Klobuchar her refusal to ban fracking, on “safe nuclear power” and “cleaner coal,” which seem like oxymorons. Klobuchar pointed out she’s a sponsor of the Green New Deal, and dismissed the assertion that she wants to expand either energy source, and also pushed back on Trump regulations on natural gas.
Burnett quoted Klobuchar back to herself, when she said she didn’t believe fossil fuels could be phased out in “a few years.” Klobuchar repeated her desire to make this a generational mission and quoted an Obijwe Tribal saying that says we can’t just plan for ourselves, but for seven generations ahead.
Next, a New York musician asked if Klobuchar supported a jobs guarantee with any climate plan, for those reliant on the fossil fuels sector. Klobuchar vowed incentives that do provide new opportunities, not just within clean energy, but in other sectors. She excitedly shared an anecdote about the death and re-birth of northern Minnesota, who lost one industry only to find new ones.
Another Columbia University, who also is a Sunrise Movement member, asked how someone from a state producing so much cheese and beef could be counted on to take on those industries. Klobuchar gave a nod to vegans and those who love beef and cheese before pivoting to conservation solutions found in recent farm bills. Citing incentives that encourage farmers to do things like plant more trees and winter cover crops, she vowed to take the country to self-sufficiency on food, so we don’t have to rely on other nations.
Burnett cited Harris’ and Yang’s responses to changes to dietary guidelines during their time onstage, and Klobuchar sidestepped the building by saying she would do what the science says to do, and then moved onto changes to buildings and transportation before calling back her “mission” statement.
Bill Weir, CNN Chief Climate Correspondence, brought up an animal that Klobuchar supported removing from the Endangered Species list, before asking how she would protect the planet’s biodiversity as president. Klobuchar explained that the wolf in question had met the numbers required to be delisted, and did not answer the question before Burnett tossed to a new question.
A retired aquatic scientist asked how Klobuchar would get U.S. citizens to own “their piece of the climate mess” and alter their behaviors. Klobuchar circled back to buildings and transportation, as well as infrastructure. She ultimately zeroed in on building a culture of competition that would lead homeowners to want to spend less than their neighbors if they’re aware of that spending.
Burnett then asked if the solution to rising sea levels is to move residents of coastal communities inland. Klobuchar asserted that there will need to be some migration, but not as much as if we don’t do anything about climate change. She focused on Florida, which she cited as having the most at-risk metropolitan areas.
Another Sunrise Movement activist brought up the disparity of the experience of climate change between white people and people of color, citing the inability to evacuate or blast air conditioning by those with fewer resources. Klobuchar acknowledged the class disparity and vowed to build a “big, big fund from carbon pricing” that would help those who lost jobs to find work, and to help those most devastated by disasters, and invest in those communities.
Burnett pointed out that Klobuchar is an outlier because she won’t call for a fracking ban. Klobuchar vowed to review every fracking application and only let the safe ones continue; secondly, she said she believes that carbon pricing will reduce such applications. She said she believes she’s the one telling the truth, because there needs to be a transition from fossil fuel dependence to renewables, so we can’t immediately get rid of natural gas. She reiterated the need to reverse Trump’s deregulation on methane.
***
Read more about each candidate’s Climate Change town hall through the links below.
Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro
Businessman Andrew Yang
California Sen. Kamala Harris
Former Vice President Joe Biden
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker