None of the debate moderators asked the candidates about climate change. Climate change still a no-show

Scientists warn the planet is facing a global climate crisis that could result in unprecedented sea-level rise, drought and food shortages. But you wouldn’t know it from listening to the presidential debates.

Neither President Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney mentioned the words climate change or global warming during three presidential debates that spanned more than four hours. And their running mates ignored the issue too.


Of course, none of the debate moderators asked the candidates about climate change either. But the moderators’ questions certainly didn’t stop the candidates from diverting the conversation to their talking points of choice.

The absence of climate change talk has made waves in the environmental community, which launched an aggressive campaign to bring the issue to the forefront of the debates.

“Given that climate change may be the greatest challenge we face in the decades ahead, to be silent on the issue over the course of four debates does a real disservice to the country,” Penn State climate researcher Michael Mann said in an email.

Friends of the Earth Action and Forecast the Facts have launched a new website, climatesilence.org, which urges the candidates to take on the issue of climate change.

“Although Barack Obama and Mitt Romney sprinkle their speeches with mentions of energy and climate, they have remained stubbornly silent on the immediate and profound task of phasing out a carbon-based economy,” the website says. “Their failure to connect the dots and do the math imperils our nation and prevents the development of a national and global plan to respond to the most urgent challenge of our era.”

Brad Johnson, the campaign manager of climatesilence.org, said this year’s debates ignored the climate for the first time in nearly three decades. The issue first came up during the 1988 debate between vice presidential candidates Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle, he said.

"For the first time since 1984, the presidential and vice presidential debates have ignored the threat of climate change. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Gov. Mitt Romney, and Rep. Paul Ryan have failed to debate the greatest challenge of our time. Climate change threatens us all: The candidates' silence threatens to seal our fate," Johnson said in a statement.

Romney and Obama neatly avoided talking about climate change, even when the conversation veered toward energy issues, including oil drilling, renewable energy development and gas prices.

Global warming hasn’t been much of an issue on the campaign trail either. Romney almost never discusses climate change, reserving most of his energy-related comments for criticism of the president’s policies on renewables or support for coal-producing regions.

Obama, for his part, often talks about energy — standing firmly behind his push to boost renewable energy, reduce power plant pollution and increase vehicle fuel economy standards. But he rarely uses the words climate change, which have become politically volatile amid a steady stream of GOP attacks over Democrats’ efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental groups say the president has done more during his term to address climate change than any other president. But many of Obama’s green supporters complain the president has failed to make a strong case to the American people for addressing the problem.

That criticism appears to have gotten the attention of some who are close to the Obama campaign. Ken Berlin — the chair of the Energy & Environment Team for Obama, a voluntary group of energy and environment officials advising the campaign — circulated a memo Sunday noting that Obama has mentioned climate change 15 times since July 23.

“The purpose of it is to really show that the president’s really speaking about climate change regularly,” Berlin said. “It’s really just to remind people.”

Alex Guillén contributed to this report.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 11:24 p.m. on October 22, 2012.