October 19, 2016

350 Action’s ‘Climate Check Forum’ Brings Climate Change to the Election

The Forum Challenges the Final Presidential Debate’s Likely Silence on Climate Change

 

New York, NY — Ahead of the third and final Presidential Debate, 350 Action held a Climate Check Forum to discuss why climate change matters in the upcoming election and the following four years. In the three previous national debates, moderators have irresponsibly sidelined the climate crisis, and chances are that they may do so again tonight. This past Monday, the Climate Check Forum panelists took matters into their own hands, discussing the impact of Hurricane Matthew on the Caribbean, the ongoing fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the need to continue divesting from fossil fuels within this country and worldwide.

The forum was held online and featured Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, Ricot Jean-Pierre, the Programming Director at PAPDA – the Haitian Platform to Advocate Alternative Development, Sara Mersha, Director of Grantmaking and Advocacy at Grassroots International, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Youth Director of Earth Guardians, and Yong Jung Cho co-founder of #AllOfUs2016. The forum was moderated by May Boeve, Executive Director of 350 Action.

“It globally was the hottest September there’s ever been. The planet is heating up at an astonishing pace and this election is heating up too,” said Bill McKibben. “Donald Trump is truly different than anyone we’ve had before and not only because he’s a creepy pervert you wouldn’t want to be in the same room with. He’s also an extraordinary danger to vulnerable people and a fragile planet, and we’ve got to figure out how to stop him.”

Over the course of the forum, panelists emphasized voting for the continued power of the movement, noting that politicians must be pushed in order to create systemic change. They also discussed the stark differences between Clinton and Trump’s climate change views, and the impact they would have beyond the United States.

“We don’t have any illusions that Hillary Clinton is going to be a solution to our generation,” said Yong Jung Cho of #AllOfUs2016. “But she is the only person on the ballot who can defeat Donald Trump, so we need to make sure that we are playing for the field that our movements will be fighting on.”

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Video: https://youtu.be/Vync1-ZWLaw

Contact: Dani Heffernan, 350 Action, [email protected], (305) 992-1544