Why Aren't Journalists Asking Politicians About Global Warming?

Seeing as Climate Change may be the single greatest threat to the planet, don't you think journalists have a responsibility to us to be asking hard questions about what our leaders are going to do about it? I do. Please take a minute and check out the petition at What Are They Waiting For? It'll only take a second or two of your time. While you are there, click on Get The Facts and see how often some of our top journalists ask politicians these important questions. The answers will most likely upset you.

Here's the wording from the petition:

As a political reporter, you hold a particular public responsibility to ask politicians tough questions about the nation’s most pressing problems.

The world’s scientific community has unequivocally determined that global warming is a man-made crisis of the highest order, threatening our economic prosperity, international security, environmental stability, and the survival of millions. It is also one of the most pressing concerns, with the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stating, “If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two or three years will determine our future.”

Yet your reporting on the 2008 elections has ignored the climate crisis.

• We demand that you publicly acknowledge that the science of global warming is settled and that the climate crisis is an urgent threat.

• We insist that you prioritize global warming in your interviews with all candidates through the 2008 election.

The American public deserves to know where all the candidates stand on the climate crisis and the solutions they propose to address it.

Asking those questions is your responsibility. We call on you to do it.

Thanks

Live Sustainably

Dave