Earlier this week, Chris Wallace, Fox News anchor and first presidential debate moderator, announced the topics that will be discussed on September 29 — but he forgot one important thing: climate change. In response, LCV signed onto a letter with dozens of environmental groups calling for climate to be a topic of discussion in the presidential debates. In addition, members of the House and the Senate sent letters demanding the same.

Following the Senate letter organized by Senator Ed Markey, LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said this:

“Thank you to Senator Markey and his 36 colleagues for calling for action on the climate crisis and demanding it be a central issue in the presidential debates. Given the disasters hitting every region of our country, it is shocking and disappointing that climate change was not named as one of the six main topics for the first presidential debate, but we certainly expect it will make it on the stage. Solutions to the climate crisis are critical to conversations about our economy, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, racism, our elections, and perhaps most importantly, President Trump and Vice President Joe Biden’s records. Climate change is one of the most pressing crises of our time and voters want and deserve to know how each candidate plans to address it.”