"The images of a paralysed New York City at the mercy of Hurricane Sandy's wall of water have forced climate change on to the political agenda in the final week of the 2012 presidential election campaign."
"Even before Sandy made landfall political commentators were debating whether the storm would be better for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama. In any event it has brought forth statements from prominent Democrats and elected officials on climate change and spurred public debate about the neglected topic.
Campaigners said the devastating storm could turn out to be the October Surprise of the elections, exposing Republicans' failure to engage with an issue that is no longer a distant threat, but a present day danger.
Bill Clinton, campaigning for Barack Obama in Minnesota, attacked Romney for using climate change as a laugh line in his convention speech. 'He ridiculed the president for his efforts to fight global warming in economically beneficial ways. He said, "Oh, you're going to turn back the seas,"' Clinton told a rally. 'In my part of America, we would like it if someone could've done that yesterday.'
He went on to argue the local leaders from both parties were already ahead of Romney and Republicans in Congress in engaging with the issue. Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, and Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, have both cited Sandy as evidence of climate change."
Suzanne Goldenberg reports for the Guardian October 31, 2012.
SEE ALSO:
"Climate Change Security Report Delayed Due To Hurricane Sandy" (Huffington Post/Tom Zeller Jr.)
"Hurricane Sandy May Force Pols to Discuss Climate Change" (US News & World Report)
"Sandy Forces Climate Change On US Election Despite Fossil Fuel Lobby" (OpEdNews/Bill McKibben)
"New Denialist Meme: Obama Created Sandy to Help His Election" (Climate Denial Crock)
"Sandy Reminds Us of Climate Change and Other Forgotten Campaign Issues" (CNN)
Comment: "Sandy Enters Politics" (New Yorker)
"Chuck Todd On Hurricane Sandy: 'It's Called Climate Change' (VIDEO)" (Huffington Post/NBC)
"US 2012 Climate Dialogue Runs Aground" (Aljazeera)
"How Global Warming Made Hurricane Sandy Worse" (Climate Central)
"US Presidential Debates’ Great Unmentionable: Climate Change" (ClimateDesk/Guardian)
