Exit polls by CBS News reveal that the fossil-fueled Superstorm Sandy, and President Obama’s response, was a crucial factor for two in five voters nationwide. Twenty-six percent of those polled said Obama’s broadly praised response was an important factor, and 15 percent — about one in six voters — said it was the most important factor in their vote.
Fire ruined upward of 100 homes in Queens, N.Y. as Sandy passed by.
“With Obama and Romney neck-and-neck in the polls, the reality of climate disasters and the need for strong governmental response may turn out to be the deciding element of the 2012 election,” said Brad Johnson, campaign manager of Forecast the Facts. “It now looks like tens of millions of Americans agree: climate change is not a joke, but instead the most important reason to vote.”
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In contrast to President Obama, who has said on the campaign trail that the “droughts we’ve seen, the floods, the wildfires aren’t a joke,” Romney has mocked sea level rise and called for the privatization of the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
Recognizing the fingerprint of global warming pollution on the Sandy disaster, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Wall Street billionaire, endorsed Obama as a climate voter. |
In the following statement by forecastthefacts.org, President Obama is urged to take bold actions on climate change.
“We congratulate Barack Obama on his re-election to the highest office of the land. The American people have rejected the candidate who mocked the threat of climate change on behalf of the carbon industry. Americans of all political persuasions agree that the president’s job is to explain existing threats to the public welfare, and lead the nation in tackling them head on. Obama’s forthright response to the immediate disaster of Superstorm Sandy demonstrated his ability to lead in a crisis. Now he must tackle the root causes of that disaster, including the terrible scourge of carbon pollution. The campaign over, President Obama must end his climate silence and speak out.
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To be sure, talking about climate change will not be enough. What is needed is bold action, and that will require overcoming any number of practical and political challenges. But it is also true that not talking about climate change guarantees that our nation will not respond with the intensity and urgency required. In that sense, the equation is simple: words alone won’t save us, but silence seals our fate. It’s time for President Obama’s silence to end.” |
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About Forecast the Facts:
Forecast the Facts is dedicated to ensuring that Americans hear the truth about climate change: that temperatures are increasing, human activity is largely responsible, and that our world is already experiencing the effects. We do this by empowering everyday people to speak out in the face of misinformation and hold accountable those who mislead the public.