Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (Screenshot)

(CNSNews.com) – Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who is running for president on a climate change platform, told ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopolous” on Sunday that the way to convince voters that climate change should be a top priority is to frame it as a “character issue rather than just science.”



“The way this works is to talk about this from a character issue rather than just science. Look, I really believe that the way to win this is to talk about the basic American character of who we are. We think big. We go to the moon. We invent. We create. We build. We lead the world, we don't follow it, and we don't fear the world, you know, we lead it. And I think we have got to argue this from a character standpoint, and an optimistic standpoint, because that's what wins in America, and I truly believe that,” he said.





Inslee responded to President Donald Trump mocking the Green New Deal, saying, “he is so pessimistic.”



“We're the optimists in this debate, we know we can invent and create and build a clean energy economy. We know we can do that, because we're doing it in my state where we’ve built a wind turbine industry from $0 to $6 billion in 12 years. We’re electrifying our transportation fleet. Two days ago my legislature passed my 100 percent clean grid bill,” he said.



“We're making progress like crazy in my state, but what we need is a president to do what presidents do, which is to blow the bugle and really call the country to a higher mission,” Inslee added.



“Don't you have to also level with people? You laid out the optimistic view and there’s a good case for that and there’s no question that taking on the issue of climate change, all the science has reached a consensus on this is critical. But who is going to bear the burden of taking on -- what kind of sacrifices will you require from Americans?” Stephanopolous asked.



“You know, if you net this out, what's going to require sacrifices is the course of inaction. You got to understand there’s enormous cost of doing nothing here,” Inslee said.



“It means we're going to have more Paradise, California,” the governor said, referring to the wildfires that claimed the lives of 85 people. “I drove for an hour in darkness, and it looked like an apocalypse set from a movie theater.”



“People are going to bear this burden, particularly front line communities, marginalized communities who are going to be flooded and burned out. In my state, our kids could not go outside because we had the worst air quality in the world in Washington State. So there’s a huge cost to our economy, to our health, to our national security if we do not act, but there’s an enormous economic advantage by embracing clean energy,” he said.



“We're experiencing it today where we’re spinning carbon fiber for electric cars in my state, where we’re making biofuels. We're getting jobs -- you know it’s interesting, clean energy jobs in the clean energy sector today, before we take action, are growing twice as fast as the rest of the United States economy,” Inslee said. “If you’re bullish and you want to have a growth-oriented economy, this is the message.”



Stephanopolous pointed out that Inslee failed to pass a carbon tax through the Washington Legislature.



“You mentioned your experience in Washington state, but you failed to pass a carbon tax through your legislature, you had a ballot initiative on a carbon fee that you campaigned hard for. It went down in November. If you couldn't succeed in your state, how can you succeed with the whole country?” Stephanopolous asked.



Inslee said they’re using “multiple tools” to fight climate change.



“Well we are succeeding in our state. Look, there’s multiple tools in our toolbox, and this is good news, right? It’s good news that we don't have to depend on just one tool. So we're exercising multiple tools that are working. Our renewable portfolio standard, as I said, developed a $6 billion wind industry in 12 years,” he said.



“We now are growing jobs in all kinds of sectors because of my clean energy development fund, a $100 million fund that we have. We’re electrifying and put people to work in software, dealing with the integration of batteries, new battery technology,” Inslee said, adding that the day he announced his bid for the presidency, the state senate passed a bill to provide 100 percent clean energy, “and that ought to be a goal that we ought to give all Americans.”