In the fifth annual Iowa Climate Statement, the diverse group of scientists from 39 colleges and universities across the state focus on getting politicians to weigh in on what they plan to do about the problem. The lead authors of the statement feel that climate change has been ignored by presidential candidates from both parties in previous elections, and they want presidential hopefuls to address climate change while campaigning this time around.
Iowa is the first state to hold its primary caucus, and for this reason it possesses an outsized influence on the presidential race. The authors feel that this attention can be used to their advantage in an effort to highlight the issues surrounding climate change.
Chris Anderson, assistant director of Iowa State University’s Climate Science Program, told ThinkProgress that the debate over climate change in the 2016 presidential election will differ from previous elections in that there will be more existing and proposed policies that candidates can comment on. These include the proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations on carbon emissions from power plants, the international agreements coming out of the Paris climate talks in December, and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for renewable energy such as wind and solar power, to name a few.
Read more at Iowa Scientists to Presidential Candidates: Climate Change ‘Is Not an Issue That Can Be Ignored’
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