Sanders: Climate Change is the Existential Crisis of our Time

Climate change and environmental responsibility has been an important talking point for all 2020 Democratic hopefuls. The presumed strength of Hurricane Dorian and the response of Donald Trump has again made climate change an impactful political talking point.

Bernie Sanders comes from the far progressive end of the 2020 candidates. While the Vermont Democrat is mostly focused on the issue of economic disparity, he is also deeply concerned with the environment. He has used the most recent hurricane to claim that climate change is real and is having a profoundly adverse effect on the country.

Sanders pulled no punches in declaring that climate change is an important issue. He tweeted, “The fossil fuel industry is now the equivalent of the tobacco industry. It creates death and destruction, then spends billions denying its responsibility. Let us be clear: Hurricane Dorian has everything to do with climate change, which is the existential crisis of our time.”

The fossil fuel industry is now the equivalent of the tobacco industry. It creates death and destruction, then spends billions denying its responsibility. Let us be clear: Hurricane Dorian has everything to do with climate change, which is the existential crisis of our time. https://t.co/TBLiIcKb1W — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 3, 2019

The Vermont senator also linked to a New York Times article concerning climate change. In the piece, author David Leonhart argued, “The frequency of severe hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean has roughly doubled over the last two decades, and climate change appears to be the reason. Yet much of the conversation about Hurricane Dorian — including most media coverage — ignores climate change.”

Sanders has continually chipped away at environmental arguments and pushed for a Green New Deal. The candidate recently tweeted, “Fossil fuel corporations and right-wing authoritarians from Brazil to the United States are driving the climate crisis. The only way we can take them on is with a mass movement for a Green New Deal.”