Climate Change Emerges as Key Issue in Presidential Campaign

In the aftermath of the national conventions, climate change has been thrust into the center of the electoral campaign more than in any time in history, The New York Times reports.

And the contrast in views on the issue between the top two candidates for the presidency has never been sharper.

At the Republican convention, climate change was not even mentioned and Donald Trump has previously de-emphasized it as, at best, a marginal issue and even questioned the scientific basis of the phenomena that is widely accepted worldwide.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has made it a key part of her message, and her campaign website devotes more than 30 pages of proposals on how to counter it, according to USA Today.

In the previous two presidential elections, climate change was only a marginal issue. In 2008 the two candidates had almost identical views and in the last election the topic was rarely raised.

But in this campaign, some Democratic Senate candidates are playing up the issue, especially in swing states, The New York Times reports. Their confidence to emphasize the topic had been increased by polls which show that a higher percentage of the electorate, including Republicans and especially young people, are more convinced than they were in the past that it is an important concern.

This has caused unease among some Republicans, who say that Trump's insensitivity towards the issue could lose the party supporters, especially among younger voters who are more likely to have it high on their list of vital issues.

Adding to the problem, the millennials have now overtaken baby boomers as the largest generation, so it will be more difficult to attract this group in the future as well if the issue is not treated in a serious manner.

The Sierra Club maintains that if Trump becomes president he would be the only head of state of the 195 nations in the world who considers climate change to not be true.

The Republican platform places a strong emphasis on the U.S. becoming energy independent by reviving the building of a pipeline for bringing more crude oil from Alaska and for increasing coal production, two proposals that environmentalists say would be devastating, according to USA Today.

Although the GOP also encourages the development of renewable energy, it says it should be done entirely by private enterprise.

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