Candy Crowley, I want to congratulate you on the great job you did moderating the town hall presidential debate. But disappointed doesn't begin to express how I feel about the question you didn't choose from the audience. You had a chance to get the candidates on record on how they will deal with climate change, and you blew it.
Some great topics were debated Tuesday night, but unless Bob Schieffer changes his mind and adds global warming to his issue list in next week's foreign policy forum, this will be the first presidential election since before 1980 in which the presidential and vice presidential debate series did not include a direct question about climate change, environmental protection or conservation.
A whole bunch of us tried to make it easy for you. Over 160,000 signed petitions went to both you and Jim Lehrer. Google and the Commission on Presidential Debate asked folks to weigh in on important topics for the Town Hall debate, and over 11,000 chose "What actions will you take to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions?" as the most popular question. You ignored all of us.
For me, this is personal. I'm very worried about what kind of world my 15-year-old daughter Hilary will inherit. Sure, I am concerned about jobs, the economy and her getting a fair deal as a woman. Lord knows I'd feel better if assault weapons were off the street. But what does all of that mean if global warming goes out of control?
When I think of what kind of future she could face, with coastal cities flooded by storms or rising sea levels, climate induced famines and resource wars igniting across the globe -- well, the bread and butter concerns of this election seem relatively tame.
Despite what some conservatives still say, climate change is real and I believe the American people ought to know how the next leader of the free world plans on addressing this issue.
So Candy, would you mind putting in a call to Bob and saying, "Oops, I missed this one," and seeing if he would ask the climate question? After all, this is one problem that no nation, no matter how powerful, can solve on its own. Ending global warming will require international cooperation, making it a clear "foreign policy" issue. If you are half as strong with him as you were with Obama and Romney, I'm sure he'll say yes.