Reader questions close November 20 before McKibben appearance
The Guardian’s invitation, published on 13 November, asks readers what they want political leaders to do about the climate crisis in 2027, and whether the crisis was one of their top political priorities during the midterm elections. Readers can submit questions through a form on the Guardian’s website or email the podcast at [email protected]. The Guardian asks contributors to include as much detail as possible, says contact details help the Guardian follow up for more information and will only be seen by the Guardian, and asks that contributors who include other people’s names ask those people first.
The questions will frame an interview by Kai Wright with McKibben, the environmentalist and a Guardian columnist who has warned about the climate crisis for decades. The Guardian said responses may be discussed by Wright and the podcast’s expert panelists on Stateside with Kai and Carter.
The call arrives at a moment the Guardian described as consequential for climate politics. Democrats will control the House and Senate in the new year, with a long list of priorities ahead of them, and the Guardian said it remains to be seen how much the incoming congressional majority will focus on the climate crisis.
The United Nations declared this summer that, despite some progress, it is now “unavoidable” that the globe will heat past the point that scientists say will threaten human health, according to the Guardian. The Guardian also reported that the United States remains absent from global efforts to limit the impacts of the climate crisis.
McKibben’s most recent book, Here Comes the Sun, argues that the present moment carries an unusual opportunity: the science and the markets have given humanity the tools to solve the crisis, and the politics now needs to catch up. The Guardian framed its question to readers around that argument — what McKibben believes is politically possible now.
The Guardian posed the same open question to its audience: what would readers like to ask McKibben about this moment of peril and opportunity. The Guardian is accepting questions until 20 November.