President Obama, GOP contender Mitt Romney, and the U.S. news media moderators pointedly refused to mention climate change once during the series of four presidential debates.

"A mountain of scientific evidence points to climate change as a serious risk for the human future. The Pentagon sees it as a threat to national security. Arctic sea ice hit a record low this summer. In some low-lying countries threatened by sea level rise, evacuation planning has already begun.

Yet the presidential debates are now over, and not once did climate change surface explicitly as an issue. This campaign is the first time that has happened since 1988, and environmental groups – and environmentally minded voters – are aghast.

'By ignoring climate change, both President Obama and Governor Romney are telling the rest of the world that they do not take it seriously, and that America cannot be expected to act with the intensity and urgency needed to avert catastrophe,' Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth Action, said in a statement. 'Their silence prepares a future for our children and grandchildren in which we will face deeper droughts, fiercer forest fires and killer storms, messier spills and dirtier air. America deserves better.'"

Justin Gillis reports for the New York Times' Green blog October 23, 2012. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Last Debate Marks the First Time in 24 Years That Climate Was Missing" (ClimateWire) [3]

"Candidates Spar Over Energy; Climate's a No-Show" (Greenwire $) [4]

"US Elections: Barack Obama Accused of 'Climate Denial'" (Guardian) [5]

"Obama, Romney Ignore Climate Change, But So Do Voters (+Video) " (Christian Science Monitor) [6]

"Climate Change In Presidential Debates ... Until Now (VIDEO) " (Huffington Post) [7]