O'Rourke on climate change

O’Rourke has at times appeared confounded by criticism that he is glossing over policy. When an MSNBC correspondent relayed to O’Rourke recently that some students he spoke with found O’Rourke “wishy-washy” on climate change, police violence and other issues, O’Rourke said, “Hmm,” then paused.

“Let me try again,” he said. “On climate: rejoin the Paris climate agreement, Day One. On climate: reinstitute the Clean Power Plan. Make sure that we have higher standards for vehicle emissions for this country. Invest in wind and solar and other renewable energies that are also producing the highest growth and jobs in this country. Free ourselves from a dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. Help to convene the world around this problem because even if the United States did everything within its power, China has three to four times the number of coal-fired plants than we do. So we need to exert global leadership, once again return to being the indispensable nation.”