Climate One TV: Jay Inslee Former Climate Candidate and Republicans and a Democrat on Climate

Obama chose health care. Trump went with taxes. Presidential hopeful Jay Inslee was the only candidate with a very different top priority: to stop climate change. Even though the Washington state Governor's campaign is now over, his laser-focus on climate and the environment was a notable departure from other Democratic candidates who regularly mention, but rarely prioritize the issue. A discussion with climate-focused candidate Jay Inslee leading up to the 2020 presidential election. In the second half of the show, Democrats have rallied around the Green New Deal and its lofty promise of a clean energy future. How will it realize its ambitious goals? Still unclear. But there can be no doubt that the tide of climate change awareness is rising among the nation’s voters. And more and more, as their constituents feel the effects of global warming in their own districts, Republicans find that they ignore the topic at their peril. “In every single community in this country, you are able to identify a few changes to the detriment of all as a consequence of a changing climate,” says Ryan Costello, former U.S. representative from Pennsylvania. Costello, a Republican, now manages Americans for Carbon Dividends, an advocacy group that is supported by oil companies and promotes a price on carbon emissions. “It’s gonna be the first election where it's a major issue,” predicts former congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL). “I don't support it, but we can thank the Green New Deal for that.” Still, even some Democrats have found themselves caught between the threat of a destabilized climate and other, more immediate, concerns. Christine Pelosi of the Democratic National Committee says that, from her perspective, the conversation is more regional than partisan. “It has a lot more to do with a couple of things,” she says. “One is the existential threat that climate change presents, and the other is the dialogue in which people from poorer communities - frontline communities, indigenous communities, mining communities, industrial communities - say, ‘well, it may be true that the ecology as we know it is going to change in a dozen years. But your change is gonna change my family's economy in two years.” As 2020 looms, many Republicans still fear that voicing support of climate solutions could torpedo their chances for reelection. Curbelo, who co-founded the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus in Congress, believes it’s time to put country ahead of career. #letstalkclimate https://climateone.org/ U.S. Climate Alliance 1:48 Green New Deal 5:40 Sea Level Rise 8:43 Climate Change, An Emotional Topic 10:48 Ryan Costello 14:00 Carlos Curbelo 15:20 Christine Pelosi 18:10 Republicans Taking Risks on Climate Change 23:33

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