Five minutes and 27 seconds were dedicated to discussing climate change during the 2016 presidential debates. Pressure is mounting for that number to increase in 2020.

At least one Democratic candidate would like climate change to take center stage.

Washington Gov. Jay Inlsee is running on a rare single-issue platform: Defeat climate change.

Inslee this week launched a petition to have the Democratic National Committee dedicate one of its 12 planned primary debates to climate change.

"Climate change is the biggest threat facing our nation," the petition says. "And it demands to be the sole focus of a nationally televised debate."

Several environmental and progressive groups have their own petition .

"We need 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 bold solutions to the climate crisis," the groups said in a joint statement. "That's why we need a full debate focused specifically on climate change, so an informed moderator can press candidates beyond platitudes, seek out specific details, and hold them accountable to what the science says is necessary."

DNC spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said the committee is still "ironing out the details" for the debates.

"While Republicans refuse to even acknowledge that climate change is real, Democrats are eager to put forward their solutions to combat climate change, and we will absolutely have these discussions during the 2020 primary process," Hinojosa said in a statement.

But do voters care about climate change?

If Inslee's polling is any indication, the answer would seem to be no. He has less than 1% support in a RealClearPolitics 2020 Democratic presidential nomination poll average .

While the presidential chances for the climate change focused candidate are extremely slim, polls indicate that voters do indeed care about the issue.

According to a 2019 public priorities poll from Pew Research Center, 44% of Americans said climate change should be a top issue for Congress and the president. Still, climate change was ranked behind over a dozen other topics, including the economy and health care.

Another poll found that likely 2020 Democratic primary voters in California, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina ranked climate change as the second most important issue behind universal health care.

In an effort to distance themselves from the industries associated with global warming, some Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kristen Gillibrand of New York, have pledged to turn down money from oil, gas and coal interests.

There is also pressure, particularly from the Sunrise Movement, a group of mostly young activists focused on climate change, for the candidates to support the Green New Deal.

The environmental proposal from Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., seeks to create green jobs and move the U.S. toward 100% renewable energy. More a wish list of initiatives than a fully formed legislative proposal, the broad package nevertheless has emerged as something tangible that Democrats and their candidates can point to when debating issues around the environment. That, in turn, could help propel the issue into the forefront of party politics, activists hope.

Supporting the Green New Deal would show that Democratic candidates are ready to take action against climate change on the scale necessary to make a difference, according to the Sunrise Movement.