Kevin Hardy

kmhardy@dmreg.com

Sen. Bernie Sanders didn’t hold back as he told a 17-year-old Roosevelt High School student who questioned the existence of global climate change that she was plain wrong.

After giving a short version of his stump speech in the school’s auditorium Thursday morning, Sanders opened the floor to questions.

One student, who described herself only as a “biracial 17-year-old female” pushed back on Sanders’ rhetoric on climate change.

“I haven’t seen any actual scientific evidence that global warming is actually happening,” she said.

“Thank you for the question. You’re wrong,” Sanders immediately snapped back, as hundreds of students cheered him. “And I thank you for standing up. Thank you very much for asking, because this is the kind of debate we have where millions of people agree with you.”

Sanders passionately argued that climate change has been observed and that it is caused by human activity, though he conceded some scientists are not convinced.

“But I will tell you absolutely and positively that the overwhelming majority of scientists believe that,” Sanders said.

Sanders pointed to projections that expect the Earth’s temperate to rise 5 to 10 degrees by the end of the century, which he said would be “catastrophic.”

“What it will mean is more drought, more flooding, more extreme weather disturbances, more acidification of the ocean,” he said. “Check it out. See what is happening to the oceans today as they warm. See what is happening to coastal communities with rising sea levels. So I appreciate your point of view, but I absolutely believe that climate change is real, it is caused by human activity and we need to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.”

Swimming against the tide

In Fairfield Thursday afternoon, Sanders received a glowing introduction from actress Susan Sarandon, who said Sanders has long upheld a "moral courage" on the issues, even when it was politically unpopular.

"It is a miracle that we have managed to get a candidate at this point who has not been bought, whose soul has not been sucked from him," she said. "...He has been in the right place, saying the right things way before the tides turned to make it safe. So that's what we need to lead this country."

Sanders made a similar argument. He pointed to his previous opposition to Wall Street deregulation, his opposition to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and his vote against authorizing the Iraq War. Those are all issues he has worked to paint as major distinctions between himself and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

"As Susan indicated, yeah it’s easy to swim with the tide. There's been a revolution in attitude about gay marriage. Today, everybody’s for gay marriage," he said. "But when the going was rough, some of us were there, some of us were not there."

Sanders continued the theme in Burlington, where he noted that he has now spoken in front of 55,000 Iowans this campaign cycle.

"What leadership means is not simply following the majority," he said. "...What's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. I've been criticized for this, but if you check out my record it is boringly consistent."

AT THE EVENTS

SETTINGS: Roosevelt High School auditorium in Des Moines; Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts in Fairfield; Memorial Auditorium in Burlington

CROWDS: More than 1,500 in Des Moines; about 900 in Fairfield; about 800 in Burlington

REACTIONS: Many of the students applauded and cheered for the Vermont senator. His volunteer-heavy crowd in Fairfield chanted, cheered and applauded throughout his speech

OTHER STOPS: Sanders also stopped by his campaign's office in Ottumwa

WHAT’S NEXT: Sanders will campaign in Mount Pleasant, Washington, Muscatine, Davenport and Dubuque on Friday. For more details, visit DesMoinesRegister.com/CandidateTracker.