I would like to welcome you forum. Climate form this is an issue where we critically, urgently need to bring americans together with Climate Solutions so that we can lead the world on the issue. A former recognize Kennedy High School teacher, and now school board member. [applause] ado, it is myr honor and privilege to announce a father of two, husband, all the way from schenectady, new york, upstate new york, andrew yang [applause]. Andrew yang. [applause] i want to hear about how you all got on the stage. Mr. Yang how many president ial candidates have you all seen already . Like eight . 5, 10 or more, 14 . Every one. Well, thank you for coming out. You all are very powerful individuals in our country. That is why you can hold up these signs for president ial candidates. For football stadiums in california, that is the power of this room to shape the future. Four football stadiums in california, that is the power of this room to shape the future. That is why it is such a privilege to campaign here in iowa [applause]. Iowa. [applause] is an honor and privilege in senateu here district 33 in cedar rapids. I want to talk today about Climate Change, and your policies for bringing americans together, and the solutions you think will work so we can safeguard people and our planet for the future. I have been concerned about climate since the 1980s when i was a student at the university of iowa. Changed my attitude and made me all in was the flood of 2008 here in cedar rapids. Not all of us remember, but it 5000 homesting, over flooded, 1000 businesses, nonprofits, a flood 10 feet higher than every flood average we have had before. What would you like to see us do as a kind 32 safeguard people and property in the state with these increasing number of disasters . And what is your experience in safety and climate events . To letg we need allamericans know that you are not on your own when it comes to , protectingge yourselves from historic floods that are unprecedented. Its a national priority. We have the resources to make our communities more resilient in ways that will save us money over time. Is it easier to make your community more resilient or spend money to clean up afterwards . It is actually easier to do the first thing. One reason why we are having trouble making progress on Climate Change is that it looks different in different parts of the country. Here, it could be floods. In other parts of the country, think of the wildfires ravaging parts of california, think of the droughts in the southwest, it could be rising sea levels in have made aat county in louisiana uninhabitable, that we moved everybody out. Changea plan on climate and i would love to go into it, but it would be a little bit dollar if i went through all of it, so i will try to hit a couple of things. When disaster strikes, whether a , who or hurricane or fire suffers the most . The poor. We know that is the case. People who dont have shelter or a car to drive away in. In we know that the poor america are heavily people of color. Plan is that every american gets 1000 a month starting at age 18 until the day you die. This allowed families to protect themselves more straightforwardly, because if there is a flood, can we turn to the government for every household in the community . Or if every household had 12,000 or 24,000 more a year, they would be able to protect themselves. Go,latter is the way to there is more trickle up than topdown. Now, even those in iowa who experienced flood and other disasters, some of them, many of them are living paychecktopaycheck. 70 of americans live paychecktopaycheck. Unexpected,fford an 500 bill. I cant worry about a problem that is five years, 10 years down the line. So Financial Insecurity has made it harder for us to make progress with Climate Change. And if you say we need to fight Climate Change, Many Americans here, what is it going to cost . Is it going to be inconvenient for me . Is it going to cost jobs . That is what Many Americans here, and that is what we have to alleviate. Hear, andny americans that is what we have to alleviate. This is going to create many, many new jobs. And we are just not mentioning the true cost of many activities. If you factor in the cost of Climate Change, how much this Climate Change cost, do you think . Trillions. Mr. Yang multiple trillions of dollars as well as thousands of american lives, maybe tens of thousands over time. So it is very expensive to do nothing. Manufacturer and do you make things that even contribute marginally to Climate Change, right now that cost is being borne by all of us, not the individual manufacturer. Build the cost of Climate Change into your for those who are progrowth and try to create jobs and moving our country forward in terms of our options with energy and renewable resources. Debatey of you saw the in detroit three days ago . When i talkedr about Climate Change . And issue number two is that Climate Change is a hoax and we dont have to worry about it. Of those ads are bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry. And then my new position is worse than you think. We are 20 years behind on Climate Change and here is the top top truth. The United States is only 15 on global emissions so even if we were to get 20 very very quickly what would happen in terms of greater change . A tiny business particularly when you account that the last four years have been the four warmest years and recorded history. We are already on the curve. The curve will continue to rise. In africa what is happening is the Chinese Government is showing up to cold burning power plants and what of the african government say . Yes, please. They are not worried about emissions, just getting access to cheap energy. What do you want to do to change that . We have to be at the table. Take the solar panels and we will subsidize them. [applause] different exports all the time but we are not at that table with the african government and that is what we go. And the technology to quickly end as quickly as possible. Thank you for those, that answered my question. I want to work the microphone off to tosha. The next question. [applause] i am a junior in high school. I wonder if you could speak to how your Climate Change policies are different from other candidates . Thank you for the question. My Climate Change policies are different. I dont pretend the government will get it all right as economic the researcher in the hands of families. Number 2, i more aggressive in terms of the International Sources of omissions. This is a common american take on things. We are one of the largest emitters but 15 is 100 , much more aggressive in terms of going in the same direction. I account for the fact we are already experiencing this in our communities, hundreds of billions of dollars protecting our communities right now, not leaving communities on their own. It takes a different form. Im in New Hampshire a lot. In New Hampshire they have coastal flooding, went to 0. All these different costs and communities are occurring. None of this is speculative and much more clear eyed about the fact that they cost are hitting our communities in myriad ways and we need to put federal resources to work to protect our communities immediately. [applause] in southport, i was worrying specifically if you were in favor of a flat carbon tax. When i was talking about how you have this externality of e missions, and i want to put a price on Carbon Emissions and have money moving us in the right direction. I forecast a trade, to help companies have incentives to clean up their operations. A marketbased mechanism to reduce emissions and sustainable forms of energy. [applause] another question. Im jack, im a junior. I would like to ask, as president how will you ensure any measures you take to combat Climate Change are not to be reversed by the next president . This is very ambitious but im the only president a candidate proposing a constitutional amendment to make hurting the environment [applause] continue to undergo this process, we need to claim right now. Thank you all for being here. I apologize about this everywhere. Climate change is the most egregious example but there are many others of the mess we have left you. It is immoral. You deserve better. In some ways, we blame young people as if it is your fault. How did you cause anything. One thing i propose that is controversial but the data supports it, we should lower the voting age to 16. [applause] a 60yearold and pay taxes so they should have some say in where it goes. The earlier you vote the first time the more likely you will be a voter throughout your life. Number 3, it would turn every high school into a hotbed of political activity because teenagers vote. What are the big advantages . There is a moral argument that they will be here longer than we are so they should have a say in what is happening. What is the counterargument . Counter argument is 16yearolds dont know enough to be able to vote, not informed enough. I dont buy that argument in large part because many of you are very informed, not like we are giving voters a pop quiz when they show up to the polls right now. We have a lot of low information voters out there. [applause] the argument for lowing a voter age to 16 is much stronger than the reservations and that would go a long way. Next question from freda jackson. Climate change is real, there are people in the community, you give them the facts and they say is the whole thing. A great question. This is where we have gotten to in the country. Look at our measurements of trust in government, doctors, the media, all at multidecade lows. Conveying science and facts to someone, it is all some strange conspiracy and agenda. That is what we have to try to reverse and it is a tall order. It is true in society and institution. It may be a stretch to some of you. The mindset of scarcity that has dominated our country. He did not undergo a round and somehow losing. That is the mindset of scarcity. If you cant pay your bills it has the functional impact of decreasing your iq by 13 points or standard of deviation. Many americans are getting less reasonable, less rational, less open to fact, less oriented toward the future. We almost certainly are becoming all those things because that is what you would expect if you were to introduce Financial Insecurity into a society. If people cant pay their bills they are likely to become less rational. If we can reverse this mindset of scarcity even partially, the opposite of the mindset of scarcity. Abundance. If you get it, great, i get it too. There is money to go around. Possibilities are endless. It needs to become more familiar to us all. The richest, most advanced society in the world, does not feel like it to most of us because we are not gaining in our community. We have to make it so we feel we are owners and participants in the richest economy in the history of the world and you get the boot of scarcity off our throats and someone like sabrina who seems very reasonable. Instead of dismissing it as some kind of Conspiracy Theory you actually said let me look at that. Let me look at these facts. When people got the economic support, optimism has gone up, trust in others has gone up, kids have become more conscientious and agreeable, many incredible effects to getting the boot of scarcity off our throats. [applause] the question . Moving people to higher ground. Is more important to prevent less or move people away in the first place and why . We are in a crisis situation where you have to consider every alternative. To arrive in a place, if you put up levies, you should do that and some of these areas are flood prone, we should invest in resources to potentially have folks feel they want to develop new properties in a different area. We should do that too. We are not doing either of those things adequately. Right now our infrastructure is falling apart. Engineers evaluated our infrastructure. The investment of decades past and the infrastructure deficit is Something Like 4 million. This is something i cant believe donald trump didnt get right. Building roads and bridges, you know what i mean . I was willing to accept it. And to prevent floods, and the development, is not as flood prone. They are related to the campaign. A question. Should we intervene to help syria. If you would like to see, to place moral interest over economic interest. [applause] more about your background. Was that a refugee . We need to rebuild our alliances abroad. Donald trump cast himself as erratic, unpredictable, upon us. We have been in a constant state of conflict for 18 years since 2001, what does the constitution say . And congress signs this, the president can do whatever he wants and here we are 18 years later, where we send troops into a foreign theater, and number one, with National Interest at stake to other humanitarian catastrophe. And not be there for 18 years. We have partners and allies. When these are in place, military intervention could be the right thing. We are no weaker position, to curb human rights abuses in other parts of the world and to rebuild a world order in which there are serious consequences if we do things that abuse human rights in your own border. We could make that case. And taking advantage of people. [applause] after a quick followup, look at the roots in syria and had unprecedented modern in terms of people have trouble envisioning, the number of climate refugees, how do you feel you can approach helping countries, the border issue and what is happening in central america, a lot of climate related refugees. I would like to talk a little more about that. Not just syria, migrants, movement around the world. If you have a drought and cant feed your families what do you do . You pick up and go. In many places this has spurred several where they migrated to europe and some european countries, having issues acclimating the population. If you look at the 21st century to national security, to me the list goes Climate Change, carbon security, Artificial Intelligence, nonstate actors and military drones and other priorities but Climate Change is taking off a cascade of eventss that are shifting borders and challenging the integrity of many countries around the world and we have been not on the direct receiving end of that depending on where we are situated around the world. Proportionately the number and percentage of refugees relative to the size of the population we have not done it the way our allies have and thats where we need to focus our energies. We spend 600 billion on a militaryindustrial complex, thats where we need to shift our priorities. If you have one more aircraft carrier, you manage climate refugees or infrastructure, it does not. But very expensive things. To be Climate Change is the biggest global threat. [applause] i am involved in those studies and how do you plan to reestablish these freedoms and promote inclusion in our society . [applause] one of them is special needs and my wife and i discovered he was autistic. We are firsttime parents and not sure what is going on is normal, and a lot of time it is too. Then we found out who is autistic and that explains a great great deal so i am a huge believer that this is the new normal, the challenge is many communities dont have resources to support families or children. This is a bigger problem my campaign is focused on. Everything in our country, how much the market says we are working. If it says nothing, and you shouldnt exist anymore, the economic base is getting crushed and argued for something that is very worthwhile and correct, a place in the workforce, a way to contribute which is correct but the Bigger Picture is why are we arguing as if economic value and human value are the same thing . Not able to contribute a work environment, we need to have resources where that person has a fulfilling life. [applause] this transition had to happen in iowa. One of the things earlier on. And it is not displacing american workers. It seems very dramatic. Why are these amazon. Amazon sucking up 20 million in value every single year. How much in taxes . 0. 30 is involved, retail clerk in your state paying 0 in taxes, youre getting sucked dry in iowa. It is walltowall robots and machines. A form of self driving truck, what i say to people is it doesnt matter if the trucker is hardworking or conscientious or not, the truck and go 24 7 and never stop. We have to get our heads up, and think about value. Not save the market is allknowing because it is not in the clearest example and the home with two boys every day. 0. We know that is perverse, the opposite of truth. The most important work every day but will not happen unless you make it happen. You are the only people who can rewrite the rules of our economy to work for us. [applause] one more question. Joe olson. What do you know about chinas growing and political i have a joke about this. It is a big question. China is our biggest economic rival moving forward and i am deeply concerned they will leapfrog us in Artificial Intelligence. It is important. Artificial intelligence dependent upon various research breakthroughs, one is called Machine Learning where you have algorithms based on how much data they have. No one has more data from china. There is 0 privacy rights. People more active for more data. They have another advantage, their government is putting billions, tens of billions of dollars building the computing infrastructure and have given their companies so we can crunch the data for a smart investor. I met with the leading technologist in silicon valley, people with billions of dollars, i can spend one, 2, 3 billion. Much of the United States putting to work to help support our Technology Players in this field . Nothing. How will this play out over time . It is okay, American Companies come up with a new breakthrough post Machine Learning and we will somehow regain the advantage. The this boulevard is whoever has more computing infrastructure will win. Let me try it out on you all but you guys, raise your hand if you think American Companies have another breakthrough . Raise your hand if you think the number is more than the infrastructure is going to win . Me too. At this point if you have enough data you will win. What does it mean moving forward . It means we are being threatened in a field that we invented more or less. A joke that used to be funny. How far behind is china in a i qq the joke is that used to be 12 hours. Because they would wake up and see whatever we did. And copy. Now the joke, they are not 12 hours behind us, they could be 5, 10, 20 years ahead of us. I would sit with our Tech Companies and say we will support you and make sure you are competitive with the chinese in terms of resources but a tradeoff, you have to have someone from the government hanging around making sure you dont break things on an epic scale. That is a fair trade. Technologists have said we welcome some degree of Government Intervention because of your tech Company Investing in Artificial Intelligence this is a data point. All incentives are to go as fast as possible and those are not the right incentives because if you have six major technologies all competing to be as fast as possible. Someone knows something disastrous eventually. Technologists themselves, do something you dont want to do so please give that technologists asking this is not a customary ask on their part but a trade, we will help support you in the computing infrastructure to make sure you dont brace things and then organizations that pattern after the wtos around data and technology, you get the eu and japan on board accept International Standards, china is developing their own technology ecosystem. Always china telling africa and why you would google our operating system. They dont want to say yes and bring this china operated system. Over time it has become less crafty. They adopted this to make it better. This is real. You build a World Data Organization and just like china conform to various International Standards we try to get them to get my abuses under control and joy to the World Data Organization, the way to maintain the right stance toward china is to outcompete them and that is what i will try to make sure happens. That is the presentation. Thanks for coming. [applause] my head is a little large. [applause] this will be available to people individually, one more round. [applause] please come up and line up here. Heres a look at our live coverage tuesday. On cspan the house meet at 9 am eastern to work on a 1. 4 trillion spending bill that funds the federal government beyond december 20th. On cspan2 the senate is working on legislation that sets 2020 defense programs and policies and on cspan 3 the hoe