'What about climate change, Mr President?'

First time global warming isn't mentioned in election debate since 1988

Following the third and final debate between US presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney this week, there was a feeling of frustration from climate change campaigners. Despite hours of debates on prime-time US television, not once was the issue of global warming debated or even mentioned; despite being an issue that has actually been described by the Pentagon as a national security threat.

The ‘climate silence’ this election season marks the first time since the issue was first raised in Congress in 1988 that it hasn’t been discussed in presidential debates. This silence has promoted campaigns to start a website urging both candidates to give the threat of climate change the attention it deserves, and has even led to Obama being labelled a ‘climate change denier’ by Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate.

The issue sparked even more controversy when debate moderator Candy Crowley admitted there had been questions from the audience regarding climate change, but she had decided that ‘the economy was still the main thing’, despite concerns being raised of the impact extreme storms and the cost of repairing damage after them would have on the economy.

So there may have been an official ‘silence’ on climate change from the candidates, but plenty of people, and voters, are definitely talking about it, meaning their stance on the issue may have a major impact on the presidential aspirations of both Obama and Romney.

For the full story follow this link to The Guardian’s website.