Climate Change

Democrats' Anti-Scientific Climate Dystopias

What last week's town hall tells us about this week's presidential debate—and about the state of Democratic policy thinking

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Judging by last week's six-hour CNN presidential candidate town hall on climate change, the rough Democratic consensus is that we've got 12 years until DOOM—and that we should probably ban the greenhouse-gas-reducing energy technologies of nuclear power and hydraulically fractured natural gas. Nonsense on stilts, argue Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Matt Welch on the latest Editors' Roundtable edition of the Reason Podcast.

The gang previews this week's Democratic presidential debate, notes the tension between an increasingly crowded Republican race and the GOP's decision to call off state primaries, analyzes President Donald Trump's move to call off withdrawal talks with the Taliban, and gives the moderator an earful about his WrongThink on West Side Story.

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

Music Credit: 'Song of Mirrors' by Unicorn Heads

Relevant links from the show:

"Four Memorable Moments from CNN's Climate Town Hall," by Nick Gillespie

"Dems to Talk for 6 (!) Hours About Climate Change on CNN Tonight," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Despite What Democrats Said at Their Debate, We're Not Heading Toward Climate Apocalypse," by Ronald Bailey

"Democrats Debate To Determine Who Will Spend Us Into Oblivion," by Steven Greenhut

"Warren Wants 'Big, Structural Change' That Goes Beyond Anything Previous Democratic Administrations Have Proposed," by Ira Stoll

"Kamala Harris Is a Cop Who Wants To Be President," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Biden's Age Matters, Even if Democrats Want To Ignore It," by Ira Stoll

"Former S.C. Congressman Mark Sanford Launches Longshot Primary Bid One Day After GOP Cancels S.C. Primary," by Eric Boehm

"The GOP Deals With Trump Competition by Canceling Elections," by Matt Welch

"Joe Walsh Isn't Running on the Issues," by Billy Binion

"Mark Sanford Gives Himself Two Weeks to Decide if He Wants to Be Trump Roadkill," by Matt Welch

"Bill Weld Raises a Pathetic $688,000 in Second Quarter," by Matt Welch

"Trump Caves to Lindsey Graham; U.S. Troops To Stay the Neverending Course in Afghanistan," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown