[ applause ] welcome back to this unprecedented night on cnn, ten democratic president ial candidates, one urgent issue, the Climate Crisis. Scientists tell us we are seeing the consequences of the Climate Crisis now, but that will cross a massive Tipping Point if the world warms more than 1. 5 degrees celsius or 2. 7 degrees fahrenheit. Weve already warmed up the planet one degree celsius since the industrial revolution, so were more than halfway there. We have 11 years to avoid the catastrophic consequences of this crisis, food shortages, rising sea levels, more extreme weather events like Hurricane Dorian thats churning toward the carolinas right now and for the latest on dorian, i want to go to the cnn Hurricane Center and bring in jennifer gray. Jennifer . Wolf, dorian has actually strengthened just a little bit with this latest advisory at 5 00. Now 110 mile per hour winds, just shy of a category 3 actually with the center just offshore. You can see jacksonville to its west, gusts of 130 moving to the north northwest at about 8 miles per hour, a little slower than it was before. Its expected to continue its forward speed and expected to impact mainly South Carolina and North Carolina as we go forward in time. Charleston, for example, your conditions will continue to deteriorate as we go throughout the evening. Peak winds expected by late morning tomorrow and then this storm moves on, skirting the outer banks and North Carolina. Thank you very much. With that, please welcome businessman andrew yang. [ applause ] thanks very much. Welcome, thanks very much for coming. Please be seated. Mr. Yang, whats the first thing you would do . And welcome to cnn, this Historic Town hall. What would be the first thing you would do to deal with this Climate Crisis if you were elected president . The first thing i would do is rejoin the paris accords. We need to let the world know that the u. S. Is open for business when fighting Climate Change is concerned. We want to be the leader. Then i would we redefine our economic bench marks to include environmental sustainability. Were being told that moving towards a Green Economy is bad for jobs, its bad for business. That couldnt be further from the truth. We actually need to redefine our economic measurements to include clean air and clean water and let america how do you change that . The great thing is we made up gdp almost 100 years ago, really. Even the inventor of gdp at the time said this is a terrible measurement for National Wellbeing and we should never use it as that. Here we are almost 100 years later following it off a cliff. All we need to do is as your president i will go down the street to the bureau of Economic Analysis and say, hey, gdp, 100 years old, kind of out of date. Lets upgrade it with a new score card that includes our environmental sustainability and our goal, the Carbon Footprint that companies are putting out there, but also our kids health which is tied to the climate, health and Life Expectancy also tied to the climate, Mental Health and freedom from substance abuse, all things we can tie to our economic measurements and then you will see us arc sell rate because we cant fall into this false dichotomy that whats good for the planet is bad for the economy. We have questions starting with evan oneal, from new york city, works for the new York Solar Energy evan, go ahead. I live at sea level in new york city. You said in a president ial debate that we need to retreat from vulnerable neighborhoods such as mine. Is this a viable option for new york . Its one of americas great cultural and economic assets. How do you propose to help places at risk due to Climate Change . Will funds be available for adaptation and relocation . How will those funds be generated and distributed . Thanks for the question. I was just in portsmouth, New Hampshire where they have hundreds of homes flooding on a regular basis, 26 times or more per year. Imagine living in a home thats prone to flooding at that level of frequency which is even more extreme than i suspect your home here in new york. I would 100 make Funds Available to communities around the country for adaptation and resilience. Then we would take the big picture is we subsidize the fossil fuel industry to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Everyone is like wheres the money . We know where the money is. We put hundreds of billions into the fossil fuel industry. Were still subsidizing it to this day, and now its time to take some of that money and channel it to the needs of the American People. There are already climate refugees in the United States of america, people that we relocated from an island that was essentially becoming uninhabitable in louisiana and we moved those people. None of this is speculative anymore. We need to wake up and let you know that youre not on your own. This is not a you problem, this is an us problem. What do sophisticated, advanced societies do . We solve the problems on the ground. Would you eliminate some s s subsidies for fossil fuel or all subsidies . Id get rid of them all. Why would you leave any of them . [ applause ] i have to say, wolf, its even darker than this because you know how theyve been spending some of their money, their billions of dollars in profit . On a Misinformation Campaign to the American People, and theyve taken our legislature hostage. They have the fossil fuel lobbying industry thats in the tens of millions a year. So we have to take back our government from the American People. Ive been running for president now for a number of months and this is the brutal truth in our society. There are the people on one side and the money on the other. [ applause ] and you know a lot of the money is fossil fuel companies. We have to bring these together, line the people and the money. How the heck do you do that . My plan is to give every american citizen 100 democracy dollars that you can give to any campaign or candidate that you like in any given year. This would wash out the lobbyist cash briey a factor of 81, it would make it so that im a candidate and you like me and i get 10,000 americans to like me in a congressional race, thats 1 million. Then when the fossil fuel company says ive got a check for 50,000, you can say i dont need your 50,000 check. Thats how we take the Government Back from fossil fuel companies and get our government working for us again. I want to stay on this subject. We have a question from dick barrett from white plains, new york, with the appliance for climate education, spoken on Climate Change and is among 21 youth activists between the ages of 10 and 21 who are suing the government for its contribution to Climate Change in the case of julianna versus the United States. [ applause ] hi. Thank you for taking my question. Do you agree that the president of the United States has the constitutional obligation to end federal Government Support and promotion of a fossil fuel Energy System considering it endangers all citizens, especially young people like myself and future generations . As i just stated, i would end all fossil fuel subsidies and ill take it a step further. I proposed a constitutional amendment that makes it the responsibility of the United States government to safeguard and protect our environment for future generations. [ applause ] its part of my fivepoint, 5 trillion plan to help address Climate Change. We need a constitutional amendment. We need to move towards sustainable energy. The United States of america is only 15 percent of global initiatives. We have to make it so that countries in africa and the developing world choose win and solar over coal. Right now the chinese are going to african countries and saying, ive got a power point for you, great news, it burns coal. What does that african country say in response . Great. Because theyre just looking for cheap energy. If were going to get the best of Climate Change we have to go into these countries and make renewable sources of energy more competitive so thats number two or three if you include the constitutional amendment. Number four, we need to get our people to higher grounds. Youre not on your own. We need to start making our communities more resilient and protect ourselves. If youve heard anything about me and the campaign whats my flag ship proposal . Freedom dividend, 12,000 a year, that would we all know in a hurricane, who suffers . Poor people, people of color, people who dont have a car to get into to drive to relatives houses. The last thing is we need to start reversing the damage were doing to our environment. Its not enough to do less of the bad. We have to do more of the good. Ocean seeding, starting to rebuild the ecosystems that were harming. Three quick questions. Would you ban all fossil fuel exports from the United States . Well, i think we have to stop subsidizing the industry. I dont think that includes banning exports. If our industry, which is going to be around for some period of time is competitive enough to export to another country, i wouldnt stand in the way of that. Are you in favor of a carbon free america . Im in favor and my plan has us getting there in the next 30 years. Do you support a carbon tax and how much should it be . I do support a carbon tax the you went to my website, wolf, you would know this. We need to have polluters internalize the cost. So you start at 40 a ton and then 100 a ton to give them time to adjust. These companies only operate on the bottom line. You cannot say do the right thing and then have all the executives get paid for making tons of money at the expense of the earth. So what you have to do, you have to tie these things together. This is theme of my campaign. This country runs on the almighty dollar. It does not run on doing the right thing by us or the planet. So we have to tie peoples incentives to doing the right thing and then you will see the behavior change. I want to bring in the chief climate correspondent. A moment ago you mentioned the sinking town in louisiana. Im so glad you did. We have a map. This is 1985, the gulf of mexico. Watch in a single generation. This is what it looks like. In a lifetime, it is slipping into the sea. It is so doomed that the federal government is spending 48 million to move about two dozen families 40 miles north. I spent time there and half of them do not want to leave the only home theyve ever known. Some dont trust the government. They think it is a land grab. If it is this expensive and costly to move less than 100 people, how do you envision a managed retreat for maybe millions from places like miami, charleston, elsewhere . This is one of the great challenges of our time. Most americans like where they live. They dont want to leave even in the wake of a national disaster. So wirs if he need to work to make some of these communities more resilient. It will not work in this town but it will in others. New york is an example. If we were to invest significant resources, we might be able to save it is one of those where you invest a billion and then save perhaps 5 or 10 billion if you do it right. So some where you pre invest before disaster hits. The second thing is where there are communities that need to be rebuilt, we need to do a better job of frankly building Institutional Trust in our society and the government again. Right now Many Americans mistrust our government. 78 of americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Almost half cant afford an extra 500 bill. So when we come to them, their heads are down and theres not much optimism. So 1,000 a month gets peoples heads up. Studies have shown that getting the boot off peoples throats economically, one, it gets them focused on the big problems like Climate Change. It is very hard to focus ten years in the future if youre worried about next months rent. It restores public faith and optimism and trust in our institutions and then we can galvanize more Energy Around relocation over time. We have more questions for you. I want to take a quick break. A lot more on the climate threat in a few minutes, it will be Kamala Harriss turn on the stage. Well be right back. 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Mix with unlimited, and switch it up at anytime so you only pay for what you need. Its a different kind of Wireless Network designed to save you money. Save up to 400 a year on your wireless bill. Plus get 250 back when you buy a new samsung note. Click, call or visit a store today. Were back with the cnn town hall. Lets continue now with andrew yang. I want to go to sarah smith. The graduate at columbus university, studying climate and society. Her question is about geo Engineering Technologies that would aim to reverse global warming. Your platform relies, geo engineering poses major risks. According to last years report, even Aggressive Development of Carbon Removal technology is unlikely to keep warming below 1. 5 degrees celsius. Absent substantial rapid reductions and emissions. Can you quantify the reduction in co 2 attainable from the geo engineering strategies you propose . I want to clarify a point shes making for some of our viewers. Her question mentioned 1. 5 degrees celsius which is the temperature increase that the International Community as you well know considers catastrophic. Colombia is a great school. I then when myself. That doesnt make it good. So first geo engineering is not the focus. We have to reduce emissions. If you look at my plan, a fraction of one of the trillions is looking at geo engineering. We have to get emissions as the primary driver of Climate Change. The very, very big picture of whats happening. You have countries, island countries on the other side of the world that are literally sinking underwater. And were lifting, the u. N. Is helping people move. They dont have the capacity to do something dramatic to alter the environment. But imagine a country 25 years from now who will be bearing the brun in the same way we are. You can imagine them doing something that affects us and the rest of the world. Spraying sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. We need on face facts about the scope of the challenge and lead globally. I would convene a geo engineering summit and get countries around the world to make sure we dont have rogue actors going off on their own. This is my approach. Not the primary approach but something we need to explore in the days ahead. The reality is the last four years have been the four warmest years in record history. July is the warmest month in recorded history. The earth is likely getting warmer around us. Even as were attacking emissions, we need to start working Climate Change. I want to follow up on that. You want to invest on these new technologies. It is spraying into the atmosphere. Why divert federal money, obviously scarce, to these unproven and potentially risky ideas, when there are known solutions out there that we all know. Solar power, wind, stuff like that, that we know already works . Were here together because we can this is a crisis. In a crisis, all solutions have to be on the table. If you were attacking on one side, you should be researching various alternatives on the other. That to me is just responsible management and responsible leadership. Are all americans going to have to drive electric cars . Electric cars, it is not something you have to do. Its awesome. So over time, yeah. You feel like youre driving the future and i did not say that just because elon musk endorsed me the other week. So whats the answer . Are we all going to have to drive electric cars . We are all going to love driving our electric cars. Will we have to drive electric cars . Well, there will still be some legacy gas guzzlers on the road for some time. This is not a country where you will take someones clunker away from them. But you are going to offer to buy the clunker back and help them upgrade. All right. A question from rebecca, the advocacy for a faithbased nonprofit in washington, d. C. I am originally from iowa and many in my family are farmers. Iowas economy is deeply tied to industrial agriculture. Yet the recent u. N. Report on land says land use globally including agriculture is responsible for 23 of human Greenhouse Gas emissions and that emissions from agriculture are increasing. What is your plan to protect farming communities in the midwest while at the same time addressing how our food systems contribute to Climate Change. Ive been spending a lot of time many iowa. I love the state a great deal. Another thing about running for president. We need to help farmers modernize their land use in terms of the environmental impact. And once again, this is an issue around economic incentives being in one direction and whats good for society in the other. We have to try to bring those together by providing economic incentives and resources to help farmers modernize . Rotate plant crops and try to measure the impact theyre having on the environment. The big issue in the farming community, the mom and pop farms are being gobbled up. Instead of a beautiful vision of a family farm you have in your head, it is some mega farm conglomerate from automated tractors as far as the eye can see. So the goal in my mind should be trying to create incentives, if you are farming in a sustainable way, we can make Family Businesses possible by supporting a food ecosfel supports more farm to table dining. I believe most americans would be happy to pay for a locally sourced farm to table supply chain as opposed to the mega farm monolith that unfortunately right now produces most of our food. Let me follow up on that as well. Meat consumption, beef in particular, is a major driver of Climate Change. Should americans change their eating habits and eat less beef . The u. N. Just release ad study that said were going to be okay if the vast majority of the world goes vegetarian immediately. So fwits for the environment. Good for your health if you eat less meat. Certainly it is an extraordinarily expensive thing on produce from an environmental sustainable point of view. So i think it would be healthy on an individual and societal level to move in that direction. But this is a country where there is a lot of individual autonomy so you cant force peoples eating choices on them. All do you know is try to shape our system so that over time we evolve in a productive way. What aspects of the Green New Deal do you support and which do you reject . I love the vision of the Green New Deal. The framers of it have done us all a Great Service by energizing so many people around a vision. And to me the only issue wif the Green New Deal is the timing of the time line. I mean, they are right that we need to take urgent action. The time line that they put out there would do away with commercial air travel and a lot of other things in a particular time frame. If we have more time, we can head in the same direction and achieve most of the same value. President trump announced plans today to roll back light bulbs. Whats up with that . I think hes messing with cnn on that one. If we do have a say in what light bulb wes use, we need light bulb thats dont burn out. Theyre made to intentionally burp out and rereplace them over and over again. Do you think thats good for the earth . Of course not. We should be pushing regulation so she consume less energy and need to be replaced less often. Wendy . Thank you. You mentioned china few times. Some climate naysayers say china should act first. Tell just the United States should lead in moving the country and making a transition, a Just Transition to a clean, healthy, Clean Energy Economy and who would benefit from the changes you propose, and how does your plan ensure that hard working americans are benefited and not hurt . To me the u. S. Is vital to building an international consensus. We need to act first because going to the table and saying who is with me on this, we can galvanize dozen of our allies and partners in the western world. I believe that china would be a partner because theyre seeing the worst effects of Climate Change on an epic, almost unimaginable scale. If you take a look at some of the smog and some of major cities, people literally just wear masks for their own health and safety. The u. S. Has always been a global leader. Were still the focal point. If we move on this, we can lead people in the right direction very quickly. As for American Workers, i was just with an entrepreneur in New Hampshire. If you imagine what we have to do, we have to install solar panels on hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings around the country. Think about the jobs that will create. He started his own business. Hes up to 260 employees, primarily Solar Panel Installers in New Hampshire. You talk about whats good for American Workers. I think neds business is the business we should be emulating around the country. To follow up, how can you ensure americas efforts to cut emissions wont be in vain if china or india continues to expand over the next decades . Thats why we need a global effort. The paris accords, the only issue is that it didnt go far enough. A lot of Enforcement Mechanisms are not there. A lot of countries signed it but they say i feel good. I signed it but the corporate actors are not necessarily integrating them into the operations. So one principle that well have, if you are a large business, you need on measure your carbon imprint and your effect on the environment. If we extend that to operations in other countries that are either of u. S. Companies or over time, our training partners, then we can have standards. Not just american companies. Do you think the policy of cutting everyone a check would be enough to help, for example, coal workers, others in the fossil fuel industry who would be put out of work in a transition to a Green Economy . A thousand dollars a month is a game changer for techbs millions of american families. While it wont replace someones job. If you have a household with two adults, 24,000 a year is enough to make affirmative plans about your future. Possibly go back to school. Move, take care of yourselves, make your family more resilient. A lot of it is people put this 1,000 a month. The question is whats the alternative . We know many of these jobs will be automated enough or moved to a renewable economy. What do we have for American Workers so they feel protected and part of the process . Originally from norwalk, connecticut, her question is about toxic chemicals that have been found in u. S. Drinking water sources. A lot of new studies coming out on the destructiveness and how it harms human health. Theyre prevalent throughout the environment. What is your man for regulating the materials that go into the products used by every day americans . We need to do much more. Time apparent of two young boys. One of whom is autistic. As a parent when you have your kids Drinking Water or using various toys and household items, there is something in the back of your mind. Is this safe . I just came from flint. This is a separate issue but it is kind of the same thing. The folks in flint discovered their water was toxic after the fact and are still recovering. To me, safe Drinking Water is a fundamental human right. If youre an american, you should not be stressed out about the water youre drinking and your kids are. This is the problem with the almighty dollar, oh, replacing the im thats is expensive. Oh, another substance would be more expensive. Do you know whats expensive . Poisoning our kids. As you know, 20 of u. S. Electricity is from Nuclear Power plants. What would you do with those plants . Would you decommission them . To me Nuclear Energy needs to be on the table in a transition to more of a renewable economy. Our society consumes a great deal of energy. And nuclear, right now, it gets a bad wrap because the technologies were using are antiquated. If you look up, we are working these new Generation Nuclear reactors that use dorium. It is not radioactive. So the odds of a catastrophe drop precipitously. It is much, much safer to dispose of. It produces much more energy. We need to upgrade to those reactors. To me, trying on get rid of all the Nuclear Power plants produce 20 is not going to help us. Would you ban all offshore oil drilling . Yes, i would. We have another question. Laura cunning schram a lawyer who specializes in litigation and private practice. She works for Climate Change law. Tackling the Climate Crisis will require work from all sectors. In your view, what is the role of corporate in this area . How you work with businesses to create the necessary incentives to drive meaningful progress . Im happy to say American Business is waking up. The business round table led by jamie diamond announced they need a broader view of their own Economic Impact. They need expand to it stake holder value which includes the impact on the environment. So working businesses, first, a carbon fee will go a long way. All of a sudden they have to pay when they pollute. That will be immediate. The second thing is, if we make Economic Impact part of our economic measurements and each country has to report on them, then you will see the behavior change very, very dramatically. In this country you aim toward what you measure. We are measuring the wrong thins. Under my presidency we will start measuring the right things and businesses will be my willing partner in this. Patrick . According to the cost of war project, 1. 2 billion metric tons of Greenhouse Gases have been released by the military since the start of the 2001, quote, global war on terror. What will you do about contributing to Climate Change . A great question. My father got a ph. D. In physics. Im talking to him like hes here. Hes disappeared from the screen. Were spending 750 billion that we know of on our military Industrial Complex every year. And im going to share a story that i heard second hand. So i cant verify it. There was a top gun, a Fighter Pilot who said that his least favorite time of the year is at the end of the fiscal year. He flies over the Pacific Ocean and dumps oil into the ocean. Now why is he doing that . Because they have to use all the oil that is budgeted or they wont get same amount budgeted the following year. So this broke my heart to hear this story. We have to take the 750 to challenge it. We need to make it more sustainable over time. Again in america we follow the almighty dhar. Theres hundreds of billions being spent on our military that is generating a ton of emissions and pollution. If we take significant portion of that budget and channel it toward infrastructure, we can make good out of right now, a huge net negative. What is the biggest personal sacrifice you want the American People to make in order to deal with this crisis . I was thinking about this. Right now we carry a bottle instead of getting bottled water. You recycle, you couple post. Then you have this sinking feeling your actions wont actually move the needle in the context of a 20 trillion economy. So what i would ask for the American People is to think big better the changes we can make collectively. Stop thinking if you take some personal action, it will solve things. The reality is we need to bring the entire world together. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next up, Kamala Harris followed by joe biden and elizabeth warren. 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