Tag: climate debate

  • Dispatch from the 2019 Netroots Nation Conference in Philly

    From July 11-13, over 3,000 progressive activists from across the United States gathered for the Netroots Nation (NN19) conference in Philadelphia, and Oil Change was there for all the action. While our collective movement for justice has many critical issues, the climate crisis stood out throughout the weekend as a crucial part of the progressive dialogue. Here’s a quick Twitter journey through some climate highlights from NN19:

    As you can imagine, people at this year’s conference were fired up about a Green New Deal. The conference kicked off with a panel on “Making the Green New Deal Real,” moderated by Brad Johnson, with award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Naomi Klein, Sunrise Movement Executive Director Varshini Prakash, New Consensus co-founder and Executive Director Demond Drummer, and well-regarded California politician Kevin de Leon.

    Then, in the afternoon, the Hip Hop Caucus’s podcast, “Think 100%: The Coolest Show on Climate Change,” recorded its latest show live for a gathered crowd at NN19. Hosts Rev. Yearwood and Antonique Smith were joined by special guest Vic J. Barrett. Barrett is one of 21 plaintiffs with Our Children’s Trust who are suing the U.S. federal government to defend the rights of youth and future generations. This whole interview was . 

    On Thursday night, with a rainstorm outside, many of us gathered for a Green New Deal Happy Hour, where notes were compared, plans were made, inspiring speeches were shared, and good food was consumed (there were even eggplant sloppy joes, because yes, that is a thing). 

    As in previous years, Netroots attendees were abuzz about the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge throughout the conference. The pledge has been signed by more than 1,600 politicians from across the country — including 21 of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. Along with coalition partners, Oil Change brought a pledge board with permanent markers, and got a whole bunch of signers, old and new, to sign their names.

    Friday kicked off with a critical panel, “Racial Justice & Climate Change: Building A Multiracial Environmental Justice Movement.“ Moderated by Data for Progress Director of Green New Deal Strategy Julian Brave NoiseCat, the panel featured Sunrise Movement Executive Director Varshini Prakash, 350.org U.S. Communications Associate Director Thanu Yakupitiyage, and artist, filmmaker, and digital communications strategist Jade Begay. They were joined by Alexa Ross and O. from Philly Thrive, a Philadelphia-based multiracial, cross-class organization working hard for a just transition away from fossil fuels and toward a thriving, inclusive clean energy future in the city.


    Soon after came the panel “Communicating Climate Action at the Intersections: Perspectives in Storytelling and Narrative,” moderated by Thanu Yakupitiyage with 350.org.

    Afterward, conference participants streamed into the hot summer afternoon heat for a truly amazing and inspiring “Lights for Liberty” rally that took over the streets of Philadelphia:

    At dusk, the Real Climate Leadership Happy Hour kicked off, sponsored by Oil Change U.S., 350 Action, and Climate Hawks Vote. On a breezy evening, dozens of conference attendees joined together to socialize, chat about climate organizing, and learn more about the amazing work Philly Thrive is doing in Philadelphia. Their presentation started with a moment for everybody to take a deep breath and reflect on the right to breathe. CLICK HERE to donate to Philly Thrive’s critical, ongoing work for energy and environmental justice in the city of Philadelphia.

    On Saturday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, joined the Netroots Climate Caucus for a few minutes to give a short speech and take a few questions. He talked about his climate plans, the need for real climate leadership, and his continued call for a DNC-sanctioned climate debate. In addition, he discussed his opposition to the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline in Michigan, to cheers from the group. His latest statement on the matter was a call to action for other 2020 contenders: “I hope that every fellow Democratic candidate for President joins me in opposing this dangerous pipeline.” Plenary sessions with candidates also included mention of the climate crisis and the need for bold action. 

    On Saturday afternoon, the “We Paved the Road: A Frontline Perspective on the Green New Deal Moment” panel moderated by Climate Justice Alliance’s Anthony Rogers-Wright, with Sierra Club Pennsylvania’s Coordinator of Philadelphia Climate Works Zakia Elliott, UPROSE (Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization) Executive Director Elizabeth Yeampierre, and Movement Strategy Innovation Center fellow Anthony Giancatarino. Learn more from Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) about how to center frontline communities in the Just Transition.

    Later Saturday, the Oil Change U.S. team joined dozens of fellow climate activists to disrupt a Democratic National Committee (DNC) panel at the conference and make our voices heard, yet again, to the DNC in our demand for a full DNC-sanctioned climate debate! We packed the room, started a chant, and then several people directly impacted by the climate crisis told their heartfelt stories. 

    The whole thing was live-streamed, and after we left the room, the chant continued in the halls. It looked like this: 

    Due to our collective ongoing efforts, the call for a climate debate has been gaining serious momentum. Under intense pressure from the grassroots, twenty-one 2020 presidential candidates, and even their own membership, the executive committee of the DNC recently voted to reevaluate the #ClimateDebate issue. 

    The proposal will now be reviewed by the DNC’s resolutions committee before going up for a full DNC vote in late August. That means we have just one month to put the pressure on DNC members to make the right decision. Help us keep the pressure on: Tell members of the DNC to fully support a Climate Debate!

    All in all, the Netroots Nation conference made clear that the climate crisis continues to be a top concern, and there is passion and energy around raising our voices, demanding real climate leadership from decision makers, and demanding solutions that meet the scale of this crisis. The historic success of the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge shows just how powerful our efforts have been, and how far we’ve come. But there’s a lot more work to do. 

    We know that standing up to the out-of-control fossil fuel industry is essential if we are going to get ourselves out of this crisis, and the fossil fuel industry is starting to really feel the heat. Want proof? The secretary general of OPEC, Mohammed Barkindo, said that climate activists are “perhaps the greatest threat to our industry going forward.” That was an undeniably true statement, which received a celebratory thank you from Greta Thurnberg and from activists across the world. We’re certainly doing something right…


    Next year, the annual Netroots Nation conference will be in the midst of a heated general election season for 2020, and we can expect more fireworks, more victories, and a whole lot more talk about real climate leadership. We’ll be ready for it.

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  • Groups Demanding a DNC Climate Debate: An Outside Summit Forum Is No Alternative

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    July 12, 2019

    CONTACT:
    Collin Rees, collin [at] priceofoil.org

    Groups Demanding a DNC Climate Debate: An Outside Summit Forum Is No Alternative

    In response to news that The New Republic, Gizmodo, and Columbia’s Earth Institute will be hosting a presidential candidate climate summit, the coalition of progressive and environmental groups who collected over 220,000 petition signatures demanding a climate debate released the following statement. The statement, signed by CREDO Action, Climate Hawks Vote, Amazon Watch, Bold Alliance, Oil Change U.S., NextGen America, 350 Action, Sunrise Movement, US Youth Climate Strike, Friends of the Earth Action, and Chesapeake Climate Action Network, reads:

    “Any serious attention being given to the climate crisis is welcome and needed, but a third-party summit is no alternative to an official DNC debate that would reach millions of voters. We need a meaningful debate that will push candidates beyond talking points and press each one for specific plans to take on the fossil fuel industry, confront environmental racism, scale up renewable energy and help communities meet the climate crisis. Brian Kahn and Emily Atkin, both excellent climate journalists and organizers of this summit, agree with us that they’d prefer a debate.

    “Outside groups shouldn’t have to pick up the DNC’s slack when it comes to addressing the existential threat of climate change. Tom Perez and the DNC need to create a platform for real solutions to the climate crisis and it must put young people and those on the front lines at the core of the debate.

    “Our message to Tom Perez is this: Start listening to the leading Democratic presidential candidates, DNC membership, and more than 200,000 Americans who have called for a climate debate. We will keep getting louder until you do. We can’t afford to wait any longer to start taking climate change seriously.”

    ###

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  • Why Jay Inslee’s new plan takes the 2020 climate discussion to the next level

    The 2020 Democratic primary is heating up, and with it has come a welcome change in the climate discussion – candidates are finally acknowledging the climate crisis and getting serious about their plans to confront it. Governor Jay Inslee’s new ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ climate plan is a really, really important development, because it takes the climate conversation to a new level that hasn’t been explored much –how we actively dismantle the fossil fuel industry and its political power in order to win the change we need.

    The plan ends subsidies, stops new fossil fuel infrastructure, and bans fossil fuel exports. Here’s our Oil Change U.S. response, but I’m here to explain in more detail why this plan is so exciting and takes the discussion on dealing with the climate crisis to the next level.

    The science shows that right now, the carbon in already-operating oil and gas fields and coal mines would take us wayyyy beyond 1.5ºC. To clarify: that’s with already-existing fossil fuel infrastructure only.

    What that means is that every single new piece of fossil fuel infrastructure digs a deeper hole. Each new oil well, gas pipeline, and export terminal makes the problem worse, and will need to be retired long before the end of its “useful life” (side note: we need some new and better terminology).

    Instead of confronting this fact, the fossil fuel industry, its billionaire CEOs, and the overwhelming majority of both parties in the U.S. are rushing to build as much fossil fuel infrastructure as they can, without acknowledging the consequences of their actions or making any real plans for a transition to a different economy.

    Thanks to these billionaires and politicians on both sides of the aisle, the United States is set to unleash the world’s largest burst of new oil & gas production by 2030 — and the carbon that comes with it — if we don’t do something about it ASAP.

    Tribal nations and communities are desperately trying to stop and delay this massive buildout, while workers are constantly abused by billionaire oil, gas, and coal executives — and kept in fear of losing the hard-fought gains they’ve won over the last century of incredible organizing.

    Meanwhile, your tax dollars are fueling the crisis. The U.S. gives over $20 BILLION in subsidies to oil, gas, and coal production every single year, and that number has increased significantly following the Trump and GOP tax cuts.

    This means even the HUGE task of transitioning to 100% renewable energy in the next 10-20 years won’t be enough. Research shows that if we don’t phase down oil production and limit exports (i.e., reinstate the Crude Oil Export Ban lifted in 2015 with the help of Democrats), we’re still in deep trouble.

    Given all of this, a real plan to:

    • Limit the fossil fuel industry’s expansion;
    • End heavy subsidization from U.S. taxpayers; and
    • Phase out existing extraction with a just transition

    …isn’t just “nice to have” policy. It must be a critical piece of any serious climate plan.

    It’s also critical to protect workers. We’ve seen time and again that when industry goes belly-up, workers are the first to be abandoned by billionaire executives — it’s been happening with Big Coal for the last 20 years. Pensions are cut, health benefits are slashed, layoffs skyrocket.

    Careful planning and strong labor involvement in the plan to phase out oil, gas, and coal production are key to a truly just transition. Because if we don’t make a plan for this managed transition, we’re headed straight for either climate disaster or economic chaos (or both).

    This is why no climate plan is complete without dealing with all facets of the problem. This ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ plan means nothing without a strong agenda for heavy, sustained investment in social protections, thriving wages, and good, family-sustaining jobs.

    A plan for 100% renewable energy is just a slogan if you’re not also actively implementing a plan to phase out fossil fuel infrastructure & diminish the fossil fuel industry’s political power (which will be a necessity to get ANY sort of climate policy passed, at any level).

    All of this is why much of the climate movement spends a lot of time yelling about stopping pipelines and ending subsidies and banning exports. It’s not that we don’t love clean and renewable energy (we absolutely do). It’s because we also have to go directly after the industry to have a chance at success.

    It’s not just because we hate billionaires (although we definitely do) or hate workers in the labor movement (we definitely don’t; we love them and need their help to have any shot at success). It’s because if we don’t have a plan to carefully dismantle the fossil fuel industry as we build a new world, things could turn ugly really, really quickly.

    With all of this in mind, kudos to Gov. Jay Inslee for a plan that addresses this problem in a serious way. The ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ plan stops new fossil fuel infrastructure, bans fossil fuel exports, ends fossil fuel subsidies, and commits to doing the hard but important work of figuring out how to phase out existing infrastructure.

    It creates a Presidential Commission to study how to make this phase-out of fossil fuel production a reality. It puts key options such as “buying out & decommissioning fossil fuel assets,” which is a conversation that we sorely need to be having. And crucially, Inslee’s ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ plan is connected at the hip with his ‘Evergreen Economy’ plan to commit heavy investment to protect Americans and create good, family-sustaining jobs.

    Another critical piece of Inslee’s plan is his commitment to direct federal agencies to “fully empower tribal nations, through free, prior and informed consent, and the enforcement of treaty rights, to reject major infrastructure proposals that would adversely impact their people, land, water, or cultural resources.” This process of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent — which is well-defined internationally — would mark a groundbreaking shift from the way Indigenous peoples have been treated throughout America’s history, and Inslee should be applauded for committing to it in his plan.

    Inslee’s plan does a lot more than what’s listed here, and honestly every climate policy wonk should read it cover-to-cover. There are already some excellent analyses out yesterday from Leah Stokes, Fergus Green, my colleague David Turnbull, David Roberts, Julian Noisecat and Brian Kahn, Justin Guay, and many others.

    The plan is far from perfect, because we as a community are still sorting out how we talk about these topics. The conversation on phasing out the fossil fuel industry entirely is long overdue. One of our biggest problems is that not enough people are thinking about how to enact this phase-out. It’s scary and means confronting real power in scary ways.

    But it’s also essential:

    • To meet climate goals;
    • To protect Indigenous rights & communities everywhere; and
    • To enact a truly just transition for workers

    To sum up, this plan is awesome, but I also hope that ten better plans pop up in the next few months from other candidates, from elected officials, from think tanks and advocates, from academics, from energy wonks, and more. We desperately need them.

    Here’s the thread above in its original Twitter form:

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  • Inslee raises the bar, recognizes the imperative of a fossil fuel production phase-out – Oil Change U.S. response

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    June 24, 2019

    CONTACT:
    David Turnbull, david [at] priceofoil.org
    Collin Rees, collin [at] priceofoil.org

    Inslee raises the bar, recognizes the imperative of a fossil fuel production phase-out

    Today, Washington Governor and presidential candidate Jay Inslee released his latest climate plan, entitled ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels,’ focused on ending fossil fuel handouts and ramping down fossil fuel production, infrastructure, and exports in the United States in line with climate science and a just transition for workers and communities. In response, David Turnbull, Strategic Communications Director with Oil Change U.S., released the following statement:

    “Governor Inslee’s ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ plan is yet another barn burner that should put both the fossil fuel industry and other candidates on notice. With action to end handouts to fossil fuels and rein in the out-of-control expansion of oil and gas in the United States, this plan shows what real climate leadership looks like, plain and simple. By addressing fossil fuel production at home, Inslee has added an essential piece to the puzzle of a comprehensive climate policy.

    “The U.S. is poised for a massive oil and gas expansion that would make achieving our climate goals basically impossible if left unchecked. Governor Inslee’s plan is the first we’ve seen that truly acknowledges this emergency and proposes critical steps to turn it back. With an end to fossil fuel subsidies and other handouts to the industry and a stop to new pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure, we can begin the critical task of a managed phase-out of fossil fuel production in the United States with a just transition for workers and communities.

    “This plan will undoubtedly be attacked by the fossil fuel industry and its friends in government, and we applaud Governor Inslee for his courage in facing these attacks head on. We challenge other candidates to choose a side — are you with communities standing up to fossil fuels and workers demanding real protections, or are you with the Big Oil billionaires maintaining a climate-destroying status quo? Governor Inslee has shown he’s unafraid to stand with the people, and we expect the full Democratic field to join him.

    “With the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge now a consensus position in the Democratic field and candidates lining up to say no to fossil fuel subsidies and new drilling on public lands, we are beginning to see the kind of real climate leadership we so desperately need. The Democratic Party must endorse a climate debate so candidates can dive into the differences and similarities in their plans to confront the climate crisis. Only then will we see who else is willing to put forward plans that stand up to the fossil fuel industry with the kind of courage Governor Inslee has shown today.”

    ###

    Notes for Editors:

    – Governor Inslee’s full ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ plan can be found here: https://www.jayinslee.com/issues/freedom-from-fossil-fuels

    – Recent analysis by Oil Change International shows that the U.S. will see a drastic increase in oil and gas production in the next 20 years unless action is taken to stop it: http://priceofoil.org/2019/01/16/report-drilling-towards-disaster/

    – Analysis by Oil Change International in 2017 put total combined federal and state fossil fuel subsidies in the U.S. at over $20 billion per year: http://priceofoil.org/2017/10/03/dirty-energy-dominance-us-subsidies/

  • Activists Double Down, Bring Call for a Climate Debate to DNC Headquarters

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    June 12, 2019

    CONTACT:
    Collin Rees, collin [at] priceofoil.org
    Crystal Mojica, crystal.mojica [at] greenpeace.org
    Ryan Schleeter, ryan.schleeter [at] greenpeace.org

    Activists Double Down, Bring Call for a Climate Debate to DNC Headquarters

    Washington, DC, June 12, 2019 — Last week, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Tom Perez announced the party will not host an official primary debate on the climate crisis, and will restrict candidates from participating in third-party climate debates. Despite backlash, Perez remained committed to this stance in a lengthy statement posted to Medium yesterday.

    In response, activists gathered at the DNC headquarters in Washington, DC, today to demand the party reverse its stance and provide a forum for presidential hopefuls to debate one of the greatest threats facing humanity today. Following pressure from the youth climate movement, over half the Democratic field [1] has already endorsed the call for a climate debate. Just yesterday at a campaign stop in Iowa, poll-leader Joe Biden went on record joining them.

    Photos from the event are available here (more will be added throughout the day).

    Karla Stephan, National Finance Director at US Youth Climate Strike and featured speaker at today’s event, said:
    “Young people across the country — and around the world — know the climate crisis requires serious consideration from the DNC and all candidates. Environmental conflicts are deeply interconnected with everything from public health to immigration to our food supply. The DNC is making it clear that the adults who got us into this crisis are unwilling to be the leaders to now solve this problem. We’re not giving up — and we’re not settling for soundbites. We demand action.”

    Collin Rees, Senior Campaigner at Oil Change U.S., said:
    “The DNC doesn’t seem to get it — the climate crisis is at the top of voters’ minds. Tom Perez thinks having a climate-focused debate isn’t ‘practical.’ What’s not practical is a full, robust discussion of the climate crisis being crammed into short answers to limited questions in a normal debate. We desperately need real, well-developed solutions to confront the fossil fuel industry and transform our economy in an equitable way, and voters deserve to hear candidates make their pitches for those solutions in a prime-time debate setting. It’s time for the DNC to discard its tired excuses and stand with people over polluters.”

    Janet Redman, Climate Campaign Director at Greenpeace USA, said:
    “Hosting an official debate on the climate crisis should be a no-brainer for the DNC — candidates want it and voters are demanding it. More people than ever are feeling the devastating impacts of climate change, and they deserve an ally in the White House who will carry forward the visionary promise of the Green New Deal and confront the fossil fuel executives standing in the way of progress. If we’re going to avert climate catastrophe in the next decade, we need to know where those vying to be our next president stand today.”

    RL Miller, Political Director at Climate Hawks Vote, said:
    “As a Woolsey Fire survivor, I’m appalled that the DNC is forbidding candidates from debating the greatest threat to my family’s existence. And I’m deeply worried that the refusal by the DNC to host a meaningful debate signals that the DNC is interested only in having candidates repeat pablum about climate science being real and returning to the Paris agreement. Voters are hungry for real solutions and only a debate will bring out the best plans.”

    Tamara Toles O’Laughlin, North America Director at 350.org Action, said:
    “The irony of Tom Perez and the Democratic National Committee rejecting a climate debate while holding the upcoming debate in Miami, a city already impacted by storms and sea level rise, is not lost on us. The DNC is effectively denying the will of the people, when really they should’ve learned lessons from the 2016 election. All of us deserve to know how the next US president plans to act on Day One to protect our health, safety, and democracy. While fossil fuel executives extract from our climate and communities, especially poor and working class Americans, Black, Indigenous and communities of color, it’s frontline communities who bear the costs of fossil fuel billionaires’ delay and deception. We will push harder to ensure our communities demands for real solutions are heard. We urge all candidates to back this call.”

    Leda Huta, Executive Director at the Endangered Species Coalition, said:
    “We are already experiencing devastating effects of global climate change – from increasingly severe storms, to bigger and hotter forest fires. There really isn’t a more important issue for candidates to be discussing than the fate of the Earth’s climate.”

    Liz Butler, Vice President of Organizing and Strategic Alliances at Friends of the Earth Action, said:
    “The DNC is stifling a robust discussion on the impacts of climate chaos and is allowing candidates to hide behind vague promises on addressing climate change. A debate on the climate crisis would have raised the stakes of what actions each candidate might take to slow climate change. The DNC needs to be clear that the climate crisis is front and center in this election and by foreclosing a climate debate, they are making the decision of who will lead the party forward even more difficult.”

    Tom Steyer, President at NextGen America, said:
    “Every day, lives are being threatened by the impacts of climate change, and the American people are demanding answers from their leaders. The DNC should reconsider their misguided decision to deny a climate debate and give the Democratic candidates a forum to educate voters on the biggest threat facing our country. It’s not only the smart thing to do, but the right one.”

    Mitch Jones, Climate & Energy Program Director at Food & Water Action, said:
    “The DNC needs to reverse its decision not to hold a climate crisis debate. The habitability of our planet is under existential threat and voters need to know where the candidates stand on this issue. We don’t have time to delay action and we need candidates that have aggressive, comprehensive plans to stave off the worsening effects of climate chaos and transition off fossil fuels.”

    Lisa Hymas, Climate and Energy Program Director at Media Matters for America, said:
    “The DNC plans to rely on host media outlets to ask about climate change during debates, but that approach failed miserably the last time around. Only 1.5% of questions during the 2016 presidential primary season debates were about climate change, and nearly half of the debates featured no climate questions at all. If the DNC is serious about having candidates discuss responses to the climate crisis in depth, then it needs to dedicate a whole debate to it.”

    Brandy Doyle, Campaign Manager at CREDO Action, said:
    “We don’t have time for this. We can’t wait another four years for the Democratic Party to start taking the climate crisis seriously. Without a substantive debate to help voters evaluate candidates’ proposed solutions, we can’t ensure that Democrats will nominate someone who is truly ready and able to lead. Tom Perez and the rest of the DNC would be wise to act with the urgency this crisis demands and allow candidates an opportunity to share and debate their climate plans in a meaningful way. Until they do, the grassroots pressure will only increase.”

    Varshini Prakash, Co-Founder at Sunrise Movement, said:
    “Climate change is an existential threat that impacts every aspect of our lives. Young people are tired of the DNC’s bogus excuses about how a climate debate would be ‘impractical.’ Our survival is on the line and we have a right to a real debate between the candidates on their plans to preserve civilization as we know for our generation and those to come.”

    Today, organizers are delivering more than 200,000 petition signatures from people across the country asking the DNC to listen to voters and organize a debate. The signatures were collected by CREDO Action, Greenpeace USA, Climate Hawks Vote, Oil Change U.S., Daily Kos, Friends of the Earth Action, Public Citizen, Endangered Species Coalition, People Demanding Action, CPD Action, Women’s March National, Bold Nebraska, Bold Alliance, Amazon Watch, 350 Action, Sunrise Movement, Food & Water Action, NextGen America, US Youth Climate Strike, and MoveOn.

    After receiving almost no airtime [2] during the 2016 debates, climate change has already emerged as one of the defining issues of the 2020 election. An April CNN poll ranked climate change the top issue among Democratic voters, with 96 percent of respondents saying it’s”very important” that candidates take”aggressive action to slow the effects of climate change.”

    ###

    Notes to Editors: 

    [1] Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, Julian Castro, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, Mike Gravel, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Seth Moulton, Beto O’Rourke, Tim Ryan, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang have all publicly called for a climate debate.

    [2] “The 2016 presidential debates all but ignored climate change,” Grist, 10-19-16

  • We Brought Our Call for a #ClimateDebate Right to DNC Headquarters

    The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is still refusing to host a climate debate – and we’re still fighting.

    This morning in Washington, DC, we joined coalition partners to deliver over 217,000 signatures directly to the DNC at their national headquarters. Powerful speakers from US Youth Climate Strike, Hip Hop Caucus, and more spoke out on why the DNC is making the wrong call on one of the most critical issues of our time. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of petition signatures, 15 of the Democratic presidential candidates have now come out publicly in support of a climate debate (including Joe Biden, yesterday).

    Pressure is building. After DNC Chair Tom Perez rejected our demand for a climate debate, over 50 DNC members – more than 10% of the voting membership – submitted their own resolution calling for a climate debate. And the executive committee of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party in Florida (the site of the first Democratic debate) also just passed a resolution demanding a climate debate. More and more voices within the Democratic Party are joining the call every day.

    Ahead of the DNC’s next meeting on June 29, we’ll continue ramping up the pressure and – with the future of humanity on the line, we’re still not taking “no” for an answer. Here are some pictures from the delivery event today, along with next steps to keep pushing on the DNC:


    Want to join our efforts and make sure that Tom Perez and the DNC keep hearing from us? Here are two quick actions you can take right now:

    1. Send a Tweet to DNC Chair Tom Perez today calling him out on this decision, and telling him that the people demand a #ClimateDebate.
    2. Make a quick phone call to the DNC and tell them this decision is unacceptable and that you demand a #ClimateDebate. We’ve set up a call tool with a simple script to make this process easy. If phone lines are busy, you can keep trying – that means they’re feeling the pressure of our movement.

    In declining to host a climate debate (so far), the DNC is ignoring the reality of the urgent crisis we are facing, as well as the voices of hundreds of thousands of petition signers, 15 presidential candidates, and the majority of Democratic voters who say that climate change is their number one issue.

    Want to watch today’s event and hear from the excellent speakers?
    Check out the full livestream provided by our friends at CREDO. 

  • No More Dilly-Dallying, Dems: It’s Time for a #ClimateDebate

    Back in the 2016 presidential election, there were  zero questions on the climate crisis in the general election debates. That’s right, zero. And in the preceding Democratic primary debates, the few questions that were asked were shallow and inconsistent, not spurring the kind of robust debate required to address one of the most critical issues of our time.

    Those days of climate silence are over. Thanks to the tireless commitment of grassroots activists across the nation, families from coast to coast who are seeing the effects of climate change and recognizing the urgency through first-hand accounts, and specifically the dedicated young people who have been making some serious waves, the climate crisis has become a top-tier issue in the Democratic primary.

    In this critical 2020 election season, we’re joining allies in demanding that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) acknowledge the importance and urgency of the climate crisis – as well as its renewed political prominence – by devoting one of the presidential primary debates entirely to climate change.

    Due to our collective efforts, the debate is changing and the bar for climate leadership is being raised – in a big way. A new poll released from CNN shows that, for the first time ever, climate change is the number one issue of concern for Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters. This is big. A full 96% of respondents in these groups feel it’s important that Democratic candidates support “taking aggressive action to slow the effects of climate change.”

    A Monmouth University poll specifically of Iowa Democratic voters — some of the first voters who will have an official say on the nomination — released last month showed that climate change is a top issue, right after health care, and polling on voters in early primary states from February found that climate is a key motivating issue and that “having a plan to address the climate crisis is seen as essential and is a driver of vote choice.”

    It’s should be no surprise, then, that candidates are paying keen attention to the electorate and coming out with detailed climate plans that start to meet the scale of the crisis. In addition, the list of major presidential candidates signing on to the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge has now hit twelve as more than half of the field of Democratic candidates refuse contributions from the PACs, lobbyists, and executives of fossil fuel companies. When the primary debates start this summer, we expect those candidates still accepting fossil fuel money to represent a small minority of behind-the-times holdouts –marking a historic shift from past election cycles.

    Now, we need to hear detailed explanations of candidates’ climate plans through a full debate focused on climate change. A climate debate will leave room for an informed moderator to take the time needed to press candidates beyond the usual platitudes and seek out specific details of their plans to tackle Big Oil, Gas, and Coal and ensure a just transition. This way, voters will be able to know that whoever is nominated to take on Trump in 2020 has what it takes to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and fight for the bold solutions to the climate crisis that this moment requires.

    Calls for a climate debate are getting louder by the day, and presidential candidates are raising their own voices in support. On Earth Day, Gov. Jay Inslee penned an open letter in support of our movement’s grassroots call for a robust climate debate, urging his fellow candidates to join him. He wrote, “together, as Democratic candidates, we can speak with one voice and demand that our party truly debates the future of our planet.” Fellow candidates Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Julián Castro have publicly voiced their support. Who will be next?

    As of now, the DNC is planning for twelve Democratic debates during the 2020 primary season, six in 2019 and then six in 2020. Specific details are still being hammered out, but we know the first Democratic primary debate will be June 26-27 in Miami, hosted by NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo. We’ll be joining allies to push for substantive climate questions in every single debate – but we’ll keep up our concerted push for a debate dedicated exclusively to the climate crisis as well.

    We need even more pressure to convince the DNC to host a full debate on the climate crisis. Here’s how you can take action today:

     

    PAID FOR BY OIL CHANGE U.S., WWW.OILCHANGEUS.ORG, NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE, CANDIDATE’S AUTHORIZED POLITICAL COMMITTEE, OR CANDIDATE’S AGENTS.