Environmentalists Leonardo DiCaprio & Tom Steyer Cry Out On Lack Of Climate Change Questions On Presidential Debate

Three times have the presidential hopefuls come head-to-head in widely televised debates with the intention of clarifying who to vote for those who are still undecided. Once for the vice president hopeful. In that time, not once has the subject of climate change been properly brought up. This has been noticed, and criticised, by leading experts and environmentalists such as actor Leonardo DiCaprio and billionaire Tom Steyer.

DiCaprio showed his disappointment at how little attention was given to the matter, especially during the debates reports CNN. Whilst in Los Angeles for the screening of “Before the Flood” his film about climate change, Leonardo pointed out how the issue had become so polarised and misunderstood in contemporary American culture that it created fierce debate. Yet this was not addressed by the moderators in either the presidential hopeful or the vice presidential hopeful debates.

According to Mashable, there were no questions directed towards the candidates by the moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News regarding climate change. Hillary Clinton did indeed raise the issue by herself early on in Wednesday debate wherein she pointed out that it was a “real issue” that required addressing.

Fortune reports that Ken Bone, an undecided voter who became an internet celebrity, raised the question during the second debate on how environmental strategies could be incorporated into fossil fuel industries with the least loss in jobs. The response by the candidates, especially by Hillary, were not given much attention despite their importance, believed Steyer. He noted that this represented a “complete failure” by the moderators.

Both Fisher Stevens (director of “Before the Flood”) and Tom Steyer were in agreement of the impact that climate change could have on the younger generation, and how big of a problem it was for them. Steyer pointed out that many so-called “Millenials” considered climate change to be a No.1 issue yet their concerns were not met in the debate. He emphasised that it[climate change] was important in the eyes of young people, just that they simply needed to be convinced that their vote mattered.

This sentiment was shared by DiCaprio who believed only the people could induce change. Leonardo DiCaprio also revealed that he and Stevens were inspired to create the documentary “Before the Flood” due to the little conversation that was going on about climate change in America at the time. It took almost 3 years (whilst DiCaprio starred in “The Revenant”) to complete and had appearances from Pope Francis, John Kerry and Obama with scenes from around the world, such as Beijing, Miami, Indonesia and more.
“Before the Flood” airs the day before Halloween (October 30) on National Geographic.