SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Kennedy "didn't bring up global warming, sea-level rise, or the surge in global greenhouse gas emissions, which threaten to become worse as the Republican White House ramps up fossil fuel production to unprecedented levels," notes the Huffington Post's Alexander Kaufman. (Photo: CNN/Screengrab)
Trump SOTU Didn't Mention Climate Crisis Once. Sadly, Neither Did Democratic Response
By contrast, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) explicitly highlighted the climate crisis in his reply to the president's speech, slamming Trump for calling climate change "a hoax"
Jan 31, 2018
Despite the fact that President Donald Trump used his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to celebrate "beautiful, clean coal" and further his war on the environment, the Democratic Party's official rebuttal to Trump's speech--delivered by Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.)--didn't once mention the climate crisis or how Trump's policies threaten to dangerously accelerate its already horrific consequences.
"The extent to which top Democrats have just blocked their ears and blindfolded their eyes and gagged themselves on the severity of present climate change is disturbing."
--Bill HumphreyIndeed, the word "climate" did not appear at all in Kennedy's speech; the only reference to Trump's assault on the environment came in one brief line buried within a discussion of the president's pro-corporate agenda and alleged Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Kennedy "didn't bring up global warming, sea-level rise, or the surge in global greenhouse gas emissions, which threaten to become worse as the Republican White House ramps up fossil fuel production to unprecedented levels," notes the Huffington Post's Alexander Kaufman.
These are glaring omissions, particularly given the abundance of signs all around us that the climate crisis is worsening at a terrifying rate.
As Common Dreams has reported, government agencies have deemed 2017 one of the hottest years on record; wildfires, hurricanes of unprecedented strength, and other natural disasters made 2017 the costliest year on record for damages related to extreme weather events; and the world's oceans last year hit the hottest temperatures ever recorded "by far."
In contrast to Kennedy's speech, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) specifically highlighted human-caused climate change in his State of the Union response, asking, "How can a president of the United States give a State of the Union speech and not mention climate change?"
"No, Mr. Trump, climate change is not a 'hoax,'" Sanders said. "It is a reality which is causing devastating harm all over our country and all over the world and you are dead wrong when you appoint administrators at the EPA and other agencies who are trying to decimate environmental protection rules, and slow down the transition to sustainable energy."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Despite the fact that President Donald Trump used his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to celebrate "beautiful, clean coal" and further his war on the environment, the Democratic Party's official rebuttal to Trump's speech--delivered by Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.)--didn't once mention the climate crisis or how Trump's policies threaten to dangerously accelerate its already horrific consequences.
"The extent to which top Democrats have just blocked their ears and blindfolded their eyes and gagged themselves on the severity of present climate change is disturbing."
--Bill HumphreyIndeed, the word "climate" did not appear at all in Kennedy's speech; the only reference to Trump's assault on the environment came in one brief line buried within a discussion of the president's pro-corporate agenda and alleged Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Kennedy "didn't bring up global warming, sea-level rise, or the surge in global greenhouse gas emissions, which threaten to become worse as the Republican White House ramps up fossil fuel production to unprecedented levels," notes the Huffington Post's Alexander Kaufman.
These are glaring omissions, particularly given the abundance of signs all around us that the climate crisis is worsening at a terrifying rate.
As Common Dreams has reported, government agencies have deemed 2017 one of the hottest years on record; wildfires, hurricanes of unprecedented strength, and other natural disasters made 2017 the costliest year on record for damages related to extreme weather events; and the world's oceans last year hit the hottest temperatures ever recorded "by far."
In contrast to Kennedy's speech, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) specifically highlighted human-caused climate change in his State of the Union response, asking, "How can a president of the United States give a State of the Union speech and not mention climate change?"
"No, Mr. Trump, climate change is not a 'hoax,'" Sanders said. "It is a reality which is causing devastating harm all over our country and all over the world and you are dead wrong when you appoint administrators at the EPA and other agencies who are trying to decimate environmental protection rules, and slow down the transition to sustainable energy."
Despite the fact that President Donald Trump used his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to celebrate "beautiful, clean coal" and further his war on the environment, the Democratic Party's official rebuttal to Trump's speech--delivered by Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.)--didn't once mention the climate crisis or how Trump's policies threaten to dangerously accelerate its already horrific consequences.
"The extent to which top Democrats have just blocked their ears and blindfolded their eyes and gagged themselves on the severity of present climate change is disturbing."
--Bill HumphreyIndeed, the word "climate" did not appear at all in Kennedy's speech; the only reference to Trump's assault on the environment came in one brief line buried within a discussion of the president's pro-corporate agenda and alleged Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Kennedy "didn't bring up global warming, sea-level rise, or the surge in global greenhouse gas emissions, which threaten to become worse as the Republican White House ramps up fossil fuel production to unprecedented levels," notes the Huffington Post's Alexander Kaufman.
These are glaring omissions, particularly given the abundance of signs all around us that the climate crisis is worsening at a terrifying rate.
As Common Dreams has reported, government agencies have deemed 2017 one of the hottest years on record; wildfires, hurricanes of unprecedented strength, and other natural disasters made 2017 the costliest year on record for damages related to extreme weather events; and the world's oceans last year hit the hottest temperatures ever recorded "by far."
In contrast to Kennedy's speech, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) specifically highlighted human-caused climate change in his State of the Union response, asking, "How can a president of the United States give a State of the Union speech and not mention climate change?"
"No, Mr. Trump, climate change is not a 'hoax,'" Sanders said. "It is a reality which is causing devastating harm all over our country and all over the world and you are dead wrong when you appoint administrators at the EPA and other agencies who are trying to decimate environmental protection rules, and slow down the transition to sustainable energy."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.