Too Alarmist? Not Alarmist Enough?

Are people who care about climate change downplaying the issue under social and political pressure? Has their alarmism been too muted? Or has the outcry become so loud that it's drowning out the possibility of collective action? The jury is out.

In this episode of Political Climate, we tackle a difficult question posed by a listener on the severity of the climate threat and the appropriate policy response. Amy Harder, energy and climate reporter for Axios, joins us to discuss.

But first we revisit the Democratic National Committee. The DNC has decided to once again accept donations from fossil fuel interests. The move comes just two months after the committee adopted a separate resolution banning donations from political action committees tied to coal, oil and gas companies. The reversal has spurred a debate among Democrats on matching up policies and values.

We also discuss the Kigali Amendment — a global climate agreement that key U.S. industry players, and many Republicans, are urging President Trump to ratify.

Recommended reading:

• GTM: Fossil Fuel Dollars and Democrats
• Huffington Post: Democratic National Committee Backtracks On Its Ban Of Fossil Fuel Donations
• Axios: Trump clashes with business on Obama-era climate treaty
• NYT: Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change
• NYT: Science Alone Won’t Save the Earth. People Have to Do That.

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