Call the DNC: Demand a climate debate now

Call the DNC to demand a climate debate now. Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

DNC Chair Tom Perez is against it, but activists, 20 presidential contenders,1 and over 200,000 petition signers want to make sure that a real discussion about the survival of our planet gets the airtime it deserves.2 Climate change is a threat to our current communities and future generations.Next week, Democratic National Committee (DNC) members are expected to vote on whether to have an official climate debate. Voters deserve to know how presidential candidates plan to address this crisis. We have until August 22nd to get DNC members to support a climate debate. Will you call Arizona DNC members today? Tell your DNC members: Support a climate debate for 2020 presidential candidates. Click here to call now. Climate change has always faced an absurdly difficult challenge to make it to debate stages. Despite an uptick in natural disasters devastating thousands of Americans, climate issues are still considered niche, rather than a widespread concern. In the last debate, only 10% of the questions moderators asked of candidates were about climate change. That is appalling.3 Democrats need to step up and put climate change on the national political stage. A presidential primary debate on climate would highlight the climate crisis at a time when more people than ever are tuned in to national politics – and force candidates to be explicit about their solutions The more calls we make to DNC members, the better chance we have of getting a climate debate. Call the DNC today. Tell your DNC members: Stand up for a climate debate. Click the link below to call your DNC members: https://act.credoaction.com/call/climate_debate_calls/?t=9&akid=33656%2E3130208%2EXBoodF - Jelani Drew, CREDO Action  Click below for a sample script and the number to call: References: Rebecca Leber, "Nearly Every Democratic Presidential Candidate Is Now Backing a Debate on Climate Change" Mother Jones, July 3, 2019. Chris Mills Rodrigo, "Activists deliver petition with 200,000 signatures calling for climate debate to DNC" The Hill, June 12, 2019. Elvondo Cooper & Lisa Hymas, "Less than 10% of questions were about climate change at CNN's two-night debate in Detroit" Media Matters for America, Aug. 1, 2019.

Tell DNC members: Stand up for a climate debate

The petition to DNC members reads: "Join the DNC member resolution calling for a climate debate." Add your name:

Yesterday, CREDO and our partners delivered over 200,000 petition signatures directly to the Democratic National Committee calling for a presidential primary debate on climate change. Momentum for a climate debate is growing fast. Fifteen Democratic presidential candidates have joined our call, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.1 So have the USA Today Editorial Board2 and the Miami-Dade Democratic Party.3 DNC Chairman Tom Perez made a terrible decision last week to reject our demands and is now feeling the pressure – including backlash from within his own party. More than 50 members of the DNC – over 10% of the total voting membership – signed a resolution last week calling on Perez to reverse his decision and allow a climate debate.4 If we can amplify their voices, we can push Perez to give candidates a real forum to talk about solutions. Tell DNC members: Join the resolution for a climate debate. Click here to sign the petition. The next president of the United States must be prepared to take bolder, faster climate action than any leader before. After four years of Trump, we have no more time to waste. But the media is still ignoring the issue, giving cover to politicians – who refuse to take action. In 2018, climate coverage on broadcast networks plunged 45% from 2017, despite a year of extreme weather and record climate disasters around the world.5 We need Democrats to step up and put climate change on the national political stage. Without a substantive debate, we can't ensure that Democrats will nominate someone who is ready to lead. The climate crisis is complex, and we need bold solutions – not 30-second soundbites. The backlash against Perez' refusal to allow a climate debate has been rapid and fierce. He even felt compelled to write a blog post justifying his decision on the eve of our DNC rally.6 Perez seems desperate to relieve the pressure. We need to increase it and force Perez to start taking the climate crisis seriously. Tell DNC members: Join the resolution for a climate debate. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/DNC-climate-debate?t=9&akid=32875%2E3130208%2E2sVVkY - Brandy Doyle, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Ryan Schleeter, "Activists Double Down, Bring Call for a Climate Debate to DNC Headquarters," Greenpeace USA, June 12, 2019. Editorial Board, "Joe Biden and other 2020 Democrats give climate change the attention it deserves," USA Today, June 10, 2019. Ryan Nicol, "Miami-Dade Democrats call for presidential candidates to debate climate change," Florida Politics, June 12, 2019. Daniel Marans, "DNC Members Push For Climate Change-Centered Presidential Debate," HuffPost, June 7, 2019. Lisa Hymas, "The Green New Deal is pushing climate change into the mainstream media," Grist, April 3, 2019. Schleeter, "Activists Double Down, Bring Call for a Climate Debate to DNC Headquarters."

Tell the DNC: Stop taking fossil fuel contributions (again)

The petition to the Democratic National Committee reads: "Reinstate the ban on accepting fossil fuel contributions." Add your name:

In June, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) voted unanimously to stop taking fossil fuel contributions. In a secretive move less than two months later, DNC Chairman Tom Perez led a successful resolution to start taking them again.1 Perez and the DNC are siding with the oil and coal companies driving us toward climate catastrophe. As wildfires rage and heat waves break records across the globe,2 Democrats can and must do better. Tell the DNC: Stop taking fossil fuel money. Click here to sign the petition. A DNC spokesperson claimed that the June fossil fuel money ban hurt rank-and-file workers in the fossil fuel industry. But fossil fuel workers and unions would have been free to donate to Democrats even under the original ban. The real problem is donations from corporate PACs – which are funded by company executives.3 Under the Perez resolution, the DNC can go back to taking these PAC donations. The idea that we must choose between workers and the environment is outdated, dangerous and simply incorrect. Instead of claiming to support fossil fuel workers by caving to corporate contributors, Democrats should be laying out a vision for a clean energy economy that retrains workers and creates good jobs that will outlast these polluting industries. Perez's resolution even refers to "America’s all-of-the-above energy economy."4 The DNC struck this language from its platform back in 2016 after progressive activists forced Democrats to recognize that fighting the climate crisis doesn't allow us to support an energy strategy that legitimizes the continued burning of fossil fuels.5 Bringing this idea back now is a dangerous backtrack on the progress we have made in the transition away from dirty energy. Perez and the Democratic Party leadership who voted for his proposal are out of step with their base and candidates across the country. Over 900 local, state and national candidates and office-holders have signed the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge, a promise to not accept contributions of over $200 from fossil fuel interests. Signers include Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Barbara Lee and House of Representatives candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.6 The Democratic Party claims to have a commitment to fighting climate change. But until we get fossil fuel money out of politics, we won't get the climate solutions we need. Tom Perez and the rest of the DNC need to stop playing games with our future and start listening to those of us fighting to save it. Tell the DNC: Stop taking fossil fuel money. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/DNC-fossilfuels?t=7&akid=29734%2E3130208%2EEXx02b - Brandy Doyle, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Lisa Hagen and Timothy Cama, "DNC reverses ban on fossil fuel donations," The Hill, Aug. 10, 2018. Eric Levenson and Brandon Miller, "2018 is on pace to be the 4th-hottest year on record," CNN, July 28, 2018. Kate Aronoff, "DNC pretends respect for workers requires it to take corporate money from Big Oil," The Intercept, Aug. 13, 2018. Ibid. Ibid. "Tell Our Leaders: Take the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge," accessed Aug. 20, 2018.