The campaign of Democratic Party hopeful Bernie Sanders is not holding back their criticism of ABC News’s debate moderators David Muir and Martha Raddatz and their choice of topics for the final Democratic debate of 2015. The Sanders camp is unhappy the issue of climate change did not warrant one question during the two-plus hour debate.
In a new fundraising email signed by liberal author and environmental activist Bill McKibben, they called the debate topics “a disappointment for anyone who cares about the future of the planet.”
Before asking supporters for a donation and to sign on to support Sanders’ plan of reducing CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2030, the email starts:
Last night’s Democratic debate was a disappointment for anyone who cares about the future of our planet. After an historic climate summit in Paris, it is unconscionable that the moderators of last night’s debate — as well as the Republican debate — didn’t ask a single question about climate change.
The topic, which Sanders has blamed in the past for the rise of terrorism around the world, was mentioned only twice; once by Sanders in his opening statement and once by former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley in his closing statement. Frontrunner Hillary Clinton did not mention the issue at all.
In his opening remarks, Sanders told the crowd, “I’m running because we need to address the planetary crisis of climate change and take on the fossil fuel industry and transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.”
In his closing remarks, O’Malley simply said, “The other big challenge we have is climate change,” before moving on to other issues.
Neither Sanders nor O’Malley mentioned the issues at any point in any of their answers.