To: Jim Lehrer, Moderator of the First Presidential Debate

Jim Lehrer: Ask the Candidates about Global Warming during the First Presidential Debate

Dear Mr. Lehrer,

In your role as moderator of the first presidential debate, you have the opportunity to ask questions about the most pressing issues facing our country. We urge you to you ask President Obama and Governor Romney how they will confront the greatest challenge of our generation — climate change.

This summer, the climate crisis has fallen right into America's front yards--in some cases literally. With trees crashing through their windows, fires burning through their neighborhoods, water flooding under their doorsteps, and droughts destroying their crops, Americans have been hurting from the effects of weather extremes that climate scientists have predicted would happen as a result of global warming.

In order to address the climate crisis, we must first ensure that voters know where their elected officials stand on this pressing issue so that they consider our planet's future at the ballot box.

Millions of voters will get their information about the presidential candidates by watching the debates this year. That gives you the responsibility to ensure that they know where the candidates stand on an issue that will affect not only their own lives, but also their children and grandchildren's futures.

We appreciate that the PBS NewsHour has often covered issues of climate change with the gravity that it requires. Now we ask that you apply that same integrity to your questions during the presidential debate and generate the substantive discussion about global warming on the national stage that our country needs to have right now.

Sincerely,

Why is this important?

Millions of voters will get their information about the presidential candidates by watching the debates this fall. The first debate, on October 3rd, will be moderated by Jim Lehrer and will be focused exclusively on domestic issues.

With a moderator like Jim Lehrer — whose show, the PBS NewsHour, has often covered climate change with the gravity that it requires — we have a real chance to generate a substantive discussion about global warming on the national stage…if he asks the candidates about the issue.

Right now, the effects of climate change are causing hardship for people across the county — from flooding in the Southeast to drought in the Midwest to the wildfires in Colorado, where the debate is being held. So it would only be natural to assume that Mr. Lehrer should ask President Obama and Governor Romney to discuss how they plan to address global warming.

Unfortunately, experience has taught us that we can’t assume much when it comes to climate change coverage in the national media. Despite the fact that July was the hottest month ever recorded in the U.S., only 8.7 percent of television segments that reported on the record-breaking heat waves made the connection to climate change, according to an analysis by Media Matters for America. But we can change that if we work together to push Lehrer to bring climate change into the national spotlight by asking asking tough questions during this debate.

That's why we hope you'll sign our petition and share it with your community.