{"id":2447657,"date":"2019-08-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-17T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=311354"},"modified":"2019-08-19T10:33:26","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T16:33:26","slug":"presidential-candidate-steyer-tells-snowmass-village-crowd-that-2020-election-is-last-chance-on-climate-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/presidential-candidate-steyer-tells-snowmass-village-crowd-that-2020-election-is-last-chance-on-climate-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Presidential candidate Steyer tells Snowmass Village crowd that 2020 election is last chance on climate issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.2571428571429\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-311354-677\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/steyer-atd-081719-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/steyer-atd-081719.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times | Democratic presidential candidate Tomo Steyer addresses the audience Friday night at the AREDAY Summit in Snowmass Village. Climate is the key issue in the election, he said.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Democratic presidential candidate Tomo Steyer addresses the audience Friday night at the AREDAY Summit in Snowmass Village. Climate is the key issue in the election, he said.<\/strong><br \/>Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/steyer-atd-081719.jpg\" alt=\"Democratic presidential candidate Tomo Steyer addresses the audience Friday night at the AREDAY Summit in Snowmass Village. Climate is the key issue in the election, he said.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/steyer-atd-081719-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/steyer-atd-081719-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy image |\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>Courtesy image<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/steyer-atd-081719-1.jpg\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/presidential-candidate-steyer-tells-snowmass-village-crowd-that-2020-election-is-last-chance-on-climate-issues\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/presidential-candidate-steyer-tells-snowmass-village-crowd-that-2020-election-is-last-chance-on-climate-issues\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer told an audience in Snowmass Village on Friday night that the 2020 presidential election is a last desperate chance to reverse climate change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Steyer made the claim during an emotional presentation at the 16th annual American Renewable Energy Day, which he has participated in numerous times in the past. He delivered a brief keynote address, then was interviewed by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Steyer said his goal is to \u201ctake over the most powerful government in the world and on day one, declare a climate emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat\u2019s not a political statement,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a statement about what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Declaring a climate emergency would open up a \u201cton\u201d of powers that the president can use, just as President Donald Trump declared an emergency at the U.S. border with Mexico this year, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He would give Congress 100 days to pass a Green New Deal. If they didn\u2019t achieve it, he would exercise the emergency powers of the presidency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Steyer acknowledged he was preaching to the choir at the environmental summit. Steyer dressed to the audience as well, in jeans, a shirt unbuttoned at the collar and a jacket. He received enthusiastic applause from a sold-out crowd numbering in the hundreds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He is among the lesser-known candidates in a crowded Democratic field, struggling to reach the second round of debates in September. Steyer has reached the threshold of collecting donations from 130,000 separate contributors prior to Aug. 28. He also must draw at least 2% support in four \u201cacceptable\u201d polls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe have three polls. We need another one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Steyer is a billionaire who left his successful investing business seven years ago to devote his money and energy fighting for progressive causes. He said he has been spending 10 years trying to figure out \u201chow to win\u201d on the climate issue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">I\u2019m not interested in the old college try,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m interested in winning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It\u2019s not for his own personal, political gain, he insisted. He is running out of desperation to reverse the effects of a warming planet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Getting the U.S. government to act is the critical first step. On Thursday, Steyer\u2019s campaign announced that he was the first candidate to sign the 350.org Day One Pledge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIn taking the pledge, Steyer will reject new federal fossil fuel permits; phase out drilling and fracking on our public lands, coasts, and offshore; call on Congress to investigate the fossil fuel industry for misleading the public; stop drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge; and rejoin the Paris Climate Accord,\u201d said a statement from his campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At AREDAY, he expanded on his plan. The first step would be setting a carbon reduction plan. Next he would build a grassroots coalition to take action, relying on poor communities that have felt the greatest brunt of climate change. Next he would transition from an \u201cextractive to regenerative\u201d economy that creates living wage jobs. He would build a \u201cclimate-smart infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re going to change the way we do business here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Steyer acknowledged that the top question among most Democrats is, \u201cCan you beat Trump?\u201d with the second being can you avoid screwing up the economy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But he remains confident he can get voters to focus on his climate message. He stressed that defeating Trump in 2020 is a critical part of the battle \u2014 but it must be by a candidate that understands the importance of the climate battle and will take decisive action. That\u2019s why he thinks he is the best choice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEverybody in those (Democratic) debates is a million times better than the criminal in the White House,\u201d Steyer said. But none of them understand the ramifications of climate change like he does, he said. And there isn\u2019t time to work on a plan that will be implemented several years down the road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Global warming threatens to force nearly 2 billion people around the globe to move, roughly one quarter of the population, Steyer claimed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s a level of chaos that\u2019s hard for anyone to understand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Once the U.S. takes definitive steps on climate change, it can resume its role as a world leader, Steyer said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWho in the world wants to listen to us after four years of Trump?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Republicans and the corporate powers that have them in their pockets will fight to retain power, he said, so the key to winning in 2020 will be getting out the multitudes that have so much to lose if Trump remains in office for another term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cPeople are going to understand that everything is on the table,\u201d Steyer said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:scondon@aspentimes.com\">scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/presidential-candidate-steyer-tells-snowmass-village-crowd-that-2020-election-is-last-chance-on-climate-issues\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic presidential candidate Tomo Steyer addresses the audience Friday night at the AREDAY Summit in Snowmass Village. Climate is the key issue in the election, he said.Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times Courtesy image Show CaptionsHide Captions Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer told an audience in Snowmass Village on Friday night that the 2020 presidential election is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2447657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 05:53:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2447714,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447657\/revisions\/2447714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}