O'Rourke in Nevada

Throughout the morning, O’Rourke emphasized environmental issues and cast climate change as one of the biggest issues facing the country, especially younger Americans. In an interview after the Town Hall, O’Rourke was asked about the Green New Deal and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s recent proposal to ban new oil and gas leases on federally-managed land.

He said he supported “the urgency” of the Green New Deal, saying the country needed to get “to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to reduce the warming of the planet that is already underway.” He said the effects of climate change are due, in part, to our inaction.

At the press conference, O’Rourke said “re-thinking the leasing on public lands and perhaps creating a moratorium on any future leases — and reviewing all those that are in existence — is in order. If we continue to add to the problem and do not invest in the solution, which is going to renewable energy, then we will have squandered this limited time that is left to us.”