Does Climate Change Make Good Political TV?

The Energy Gang

This week: We’ve gone from drought to flood.

People who care about climate change have spent the last three presidential election cycles cajoling, prodding and begging television news outlets to cover the issue. But the more pressure mounted, the more coverage lagged.

Across all three debates between Clinton and Trump in 2016, environmental issues got just under 5 and a half minutes of air time. And in all of 2016, the major networks talked about climate for just 50 minutes combined.

And then suddenly in September, we got CNN’s town hall, a seven-hour extravaganza that actually allowed candidates some time to tease out the nuances of their plans.

Sure, the moderators asked some weird questions about cheeseburgers, plastic straws and electric cars. But for the most part, the conversation was substantive and helpful.

In this episode, we’re digging into a few questions: Did the town hall advance the narrative? Did it change the campaign and polling? And which candidate performed the best?

We’re joined by Dr. Leah Stokes, an assistant professor of political science at the University of California Santa Barbara, who watched and analyzed all seven hours closely.

Read Leah’s top twitter threads on the candidates:

• Elizabeth Warren
• Bernie Sanders
• Joe Biden
• Andrew Yang
• Kamala Harris
• Jay Inslee
• You can also read her analysis in the Washington Post comparing the candidates.

Follow the gang on twitter: Katherine, Jigar, Stephen and The Energy Gang.

Support for this podcast is brought to you by Sungrow. With the world’s most powerful 250-kilowatt, 1,500-volt string inverter, Sungrow is providing disruptive technology for utility-scale projects.

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