Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were asked about climate change as part of the Compassion Forum, a gathering focused on eliciting the candidates’ views on matters of faith. Asked whether Americans can combat global poverty and climate change without changing their standard of living, Clinton got all “10 things you can do,” advising people to unplug appliances and change their light bulbs. “I hope that, as president, I can model that and lead that effort so that people don’t feel so threatened by the changes we’re talking about when it comes to dealing with global warming,” she said. Clinton also commented on the Vatican’s efforts to become carbon neutral and spoke of implementing a cap-and-trade system. Later, Rev. Richard Cizik quizzed Obama on his climate change views. “Where I think potentially religious faith and the science of global warming converge is precisely because [climate change is] going to be hard to deal with,” Obama said. Obama also stressed the intergenerational nature of the climate problem, advocated for a cap-and-trade system, and said Americans need to be less wasteful of energy.
