Talking the Talk on Climate Action
Leaders across the political spectrum are responding to increased public momentum for climate action with messages of unity and leadership. Take the quiz on climate talk!
Who Said It?
Is climate change a challenge comparable to Pearl Harbor or the launch of Sputnik? A challenge that’s also an opportunity? A chance to jumpstart a new energy economy? All three, say leaders across the political spectrum, particularly a certain set of presidential hopefuls, who are responding to increased public momentum for climate action with messages of unity and leadership.
As Climate Solution’s KC Golden recently wrote: “This is our Pearl Harbor. It may lack the pop of a sneak attack but here it is, and we need to respond with every ounce of vision and determination we can muster.”
Who else is defining the challenge in bold, unifying terms? See for yourself by taking our “talk the talk on climate” quiz:
Talk the Talk on Climate Quiz
Match the quote to the list of politicians at the end.
1. You can be at the front of the wave or you can watch as the wave
washes over you. One of the real benefits of looking at the Pacific
Coast and creating a collaboration among the states and the provinces
[to combat global warming] is we create a market place of 50 million
people. The market will pay attention.
2. …with American ingenuity and resolve, we can turn the crisis of global warming into an opportunity—ending our dependence on foreign oil and jumpstarting a new energy economy that embraces innovation, brings rural communities back to life and creates new, good-paying jobs.
3. Our country has a history of taking on tough challenges and triumphing. It is now time to roll up our sleeves, get down to work, and lead the world in developing new energy technologies.
4. Americans solve problems. We don't run from them. Ignoring climate change is unworthy of our great country and poses a serious and unacceptable threat to our environment, our economy, and US national security. Cleaner air; greater energy efficiency, a more diverse and secure energy mix, and US leadership in the technologies of the future. There is no doubt; failure to act is the far greater risk.
5. I have called for a bold and far-reaching research initiative - an Energy Revolution - to be our generation's equivalent of the Manhattan Project or the Moon mission. This will be a mission to create new, economic sources of clean energy.
6. The country that both split the atom and that put a man on the moon can take the oil out of our tanks and utilize the power of technology to find smart solutions for our energy future and to create millions of jobs throughout the United States.
7. The nation must find a way to become energy-independent. I promise as president to undertake an effort comparable to the one that put man on the moon.
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So who said it?
a. John Edwards, Democratic presidential candidate
b. John McCain, Senator, Arizona, Republican presidential candidate
c. Mitt Romney, Governor, Massachusetts, Republican presidential candidate
d. Hillary Clinton, Senator, New York, Democratic presidential candidate
e. Gordon Campbell, Premier, British Columbia, BC Liberal Party (center-right)
f. Jay Inslee, Democrat, US House of Representatives, Washington
g. Rudy Giuliani, Republican presidential candidate
Answers
| 1. e |
5. c |
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| 2. a |
6. d | |||
| 3. f | 7. g | |||
| 4. b |
- Forward this quiz to your friends!
- Follow US presidential candidates’ statements on global warming.
- Check out Climate Policy for Smarties Sightline’s series on the latest polling data and political messaging from the US, Canada, and beyond – and why it matters to the Northwest
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