AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to the Democratic presidential debate in Los Angeles Thursday evening, the last one of the year. This is the moderator, Tim Alberta, a Politico correspondent.
TIM ALBERTA: We're going to talk about climate now. " Senator Klobuchar... would you support a new federal program to subsidize the relocation of American families and businesses away from places like Miami or Paradise, California, perhaps, Davenport, Iowa, because we know these places are going to be hit time and time again?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: Well, I don't -- I very much hope we're not going to have to relocate entire cities, but we will probably have to relocate some individual residents.
TIM ALBERTA: Mr. Steyer, would you support such a new federal program, again, to help subsidize the relocation of these families?
TOM STEYER: Look, I am hoping that we in fact will do what I'm suggesting, which is declare a state of emergency on day one of my presidency. I have made this -- I believe I'm the only person here who will say, unequivocally, this is my number-one priority.
TIM ALBERTA: Mr. Buttigieg?
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG: So, I know what's at stake. And it's why I insist that we act with a carbon tax and dividend, with massive increases in renewable research, on renewable energy, energy storage and carbon storage.
TIM ALBERTA: Senator Sanders?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Tim, in all due respect, your question misses the mark. It is not an issue of relocating people in towns. The issue now is whether we save the planet for our children and our grandchildren.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that's Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar, two Democratic presidential candidates, debating on Thursday night, the last presidential debate of this year. One of the previous presidential candidates, who has since dropped out, Jay Inslee, the current governor of Washington state, called for a debate solely focused on the climate crisis, but the DNC has repeatedly rejected that. Jane Fonda, what do you think of the Democrats' approach, what they are suggesting for the climate, and what you think needs to happen in this election year?
JANE FONDA: We mustn't vote for anybody that doesn't understand the urgency of the crisis, and the utter catastrophe, the utter devastation that can happen if we don't do what's needed. We have a very small window to do something unprecedented in human history, which is reduce carbon emissions by half in the next decade and then net zero by the middle of the century. That requires extremely bold action on day one of the new presidency. So I would not support anybody who doesn't understand that this is not about carbon taxes or carbon capture or moderate things, moving people around out of harm's way.
No, this -- nobody -- well, yeah, some people -- I don't want to endorse anybody, but too few of them are talking about the real problem, which is fossil fuels. You know, you can talk about relocation, you can talk about windmills and the renewables that have to come into play, but point our fingers at the criminals, the people that have caused this to happen to us: the fossil fuel industry. They knew in 1977 what they were doing. Their scientists told them that they were poisoning the atmosphere and it could lead to irreversible damage. And they lied to us, and they hoodwinked us, and they kept on drilling. And that's why right now it's too late for moderation. We have to take very, very brave, bold steps.
And whoever gets elected next November, we have to hold their feet to the fire. That's why it's important right now to build an army, bigger and bigger and bigger, so that by next November we will have the wherewithal to do what's necessary, which could mean shutting down the government. We are fighting for the future of our children. Young people know what they're facing, and they're furious. And they have every right to be. And we have to do everything we can.
No matter what, it's going to get worse before it slows down, because of all the heat that's been baked in because of our inaction over the decades. So we have to help communities, frontline communities, the most vulnerable of us, in particular, to feel resilient. We have to build resiliency. That's why a lot of us, many of us, are supporting a Green New Deal, because it would center justice in the climate movement. It would center caring for the people that are going to be the most impacted by what's coming, and then moving very swiftly to reduce fossil fuels.
AMY GOODMAN: We've just come from Madrid, Spain, where we were covering the U.N. climate summit, officially the United Nations Climate Change Conference. I want to turn to the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. And this is what she said to the gathered world leaders and climate negotiators.
GRETA THUNBERG: Why is it so important to stay below 1.5 degrees? Because even at 1 degree, people are dying from the climate crisis. Because that is what the united science calls for to avoid destabilizing the climate, so that we have the best possible chance to avoid setting off irreversible chain reactions, such as melting glaciers, polar ice and thawing Arctic permafrost. Every fraction of a degree matters. " How do you react to these numbers without feeling at least some level of panic?
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