Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), a 2020 presidential candidate, on Sunday called for climate change to be the “primary” issue for the next administration, saying “the world’s on fire and we’ve got to act.”
“We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change and we are the last generation that can do something about it. And we’ve got one shot and that’s the next administration,” he said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“We have to have this be the primary, first, foremost and paramount duty of the next administration because the world’s on fire and we’ve got to act and we’ve got a climate denier in the White House,” Inslee added.
{mosads}Inslee also said that climate change is “not a single issue,” arguing that tackling climate change would benefit the economy, public health and national security.
The Washington governor has made climate change his top focus since announcing his presidential bid earlier this month.
“We went to the moon and created technologies that have changed the world. Our country’s next mission must be to rise up to the most urgent challenge of our time: defeating climate change,” Inslee said in his announcement video. “I’m running for president because I am the only candidate who will make defeating climate change our nation’s No. 1 priority.”