scorecardWhat the 10 Democrats running for president each think the US should do about climate change
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What the 10 Democrats running for president each think the US should do about climate change

What the 10 Democrats running for president each think the US should do about climate change
LifeScience2 min read

FILE PHOTO: Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates (L-R) U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, U.S. Senator Cory Booker, former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Washington Governor Jay Inslee  and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pose together before the start of the second night of the second U.S. 2020 presidential Democratic candidates debate in Detroit, Michigan, July 31, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

In the absence of an official Democratic debate about climate-change policy, CNN hosted a seven-hour town hall on the subject this week with 10 Democratic presidential candidates.

Each candidate got 40 minutes to discuss their ideas about how the US should tackle the climate crisis and answer questions from the audience.

Nearly all of said that the US should recommit to the Paris climate agreement (President Donald Trump has pledged to withdraw the US from the agreement as soon as it's legally permitted in November 2020) and halt new leases for oil and gas drilling on public lands. Most also offered a plan to put a price on carbon emissions.

The discussions also covered issues like fracking - the process of injecting rock with high-pressure liquid to release natural gas - whether to offer federal assistance to Americans displaced by climate change, and nuclear power (which currently accounts for 20% of US electricity).

Senator Elizabeth Warren, who recently incorporated many elements of former candidate Jay Inslee's climate plan into her own, pushed for the US to achieve 100% clean energy in just a decade. Others, like Senator Kamala Harris, advocated for a sweeping Green New Deal.

Businessman Andrew Yang, meanwhile, expounded on his support for geoengineering efforts like seeding clouds with aerosols to reflect sunlight back into space. And Senator Bernie Sanders talked about the idea that controlling population growth could be a climate-change strategy.

Read More: Bernie Sanders said birth control can help fight climate change. Here's why it's such a thorny issue.

Each candidate has a plan - with budgets of trillions of dollars - to help save the planet from the potentially catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis.

Here's a brief overview of where each of the 10 candidates (ordered alphabetically by last name) stand on important climate-related issues like carbon taxes, offshore drilling, and a net-zero carbon economy.

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