From The Guardian, 2016: Why has climate change been ignored in the US debates? [View all]

[pnwmom]

What many seem to forget is that moderators decide what questions they're going to ask, and moderators have never been eager to ask questions about climate change. However, if we had a whole debate allotted to the subject, they couldn't avoid it.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/19/where-is-climate-change-in-the-trump-v-clinton-presidential-debates

Climate change has been the elephant in the room during the past two US presidential debates. Ignoring this issue would be more understandable if this metaphorical pachyderm weren’t about to rampage through the lives of Americans, causing upheaval on a scale not seen since the start of human civilization.

“I’ve been shocked at the lack of questions on climate change. It really is fiddling while the world burns,” said Kerry Emanuel, a leading climate scientist. “This is the great issue of our time and we are skirting around it. I’m just baffled by it.”

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have yet to face a moderator question on climate change during two debates in which time was found to grill Clinton repeatedly over her use of emails and to ask Trump about a series of late-night tweets he sent about a former Miss Universe’s sex tape. Lester Holt, the moderator of the first debate, was reportedly set to ask a climate question but ran out of time.

Wednesday’s final debate is set to retread the same ground, with the debate referee, Chris Wallace of Fox News, planning to prod the candidates on immigration, the economy and “fitness to be president”.

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“It’s like a sort of collective cowardice,” said Emanuel of the omission. Michael Mann, another prominent climate scientist, added: “One has to wonder if television networks are compromised by the millions of advertising dollars they take from fossil fuel interests.”