9:30 am Nov. 7, 2012
President Obama didn't say much about climate change during the election, even after Hurricane Sandy barreled into the East Coast, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered him a surprise endorsement premised on the notion the president would be better on the issue than Mitt Romney.
But last night, in his first speech since winning re-election, Obama finally brought it up.
"We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt," he said, "that isn’t weakened by inequality; that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet."
The line drew sustained applause from the crowd in Chicago, and prompted surprised cheers on Twitter.
Both candidates had been reluctant to engage in a debate over climate change, especially with the voters in Ohio's coal country still on the board as a swing constituency.
As of last night, Obama is freed of those constraints.
