I would like to welcome you forum. Climate form this is an issue where we critically, urgently need to bring americans together with Climate Solutions so that we can lead the world on the issue. A former recognize Kennedy High School teacher, and now school board member. [applause] ado, it is myr honor and privilege to announce a father of two, husband, all the way from schenectady, new york, upstate new york, andrew yang [applause]. Andrew yang. [applause] i want to hear about how you all got on the stage. Mr. Yang how many president ial candidates have you all seen already . Like eight . 5, 10 or more, 14 . Every one. Well, thank you for coming out. You all are very powerful individuals in our country. That is why you can hold up these signs for president ial candidates. For football stadiums in california, that is the power of this room to shape the future. Four football stadiums in california, that is the power of this room to shape the future. That is why it is such a privilege to campaign here in iowa [applause]. Iowa. [applause] is an honor and privilege in senateu here district 33 in cedar rapids. I want to talk today about Climate Change, and your policies for bringing americans together, and the solutions you think will work so we can safeguard people and our planet for the future. I have been concerned about climate since the 1980s when i was a student at the university of iowa. Changed my attitude and made me all in was the flood of 2008 here in cedar rapids. Not all of us remember, but it 5000 homesting, over flooded, 1000 businesses, nonprofits, a flood 10 feet higher than every flood average we have had before. What would you like to see us do as a kind 32 safeguard people and property in the state with these increasing number of disasters . And what is your experience in safety and climate events . To letg we need allamericans know that you are not on your own when it comes to , protectingge yourselves from historic floods that are unprecedented. Its a national priority. We have the resources to make our communities more resilient in ways that will save us money over time. Is it easier to make your community more resilient or spend money to clean up afterwards . It is actually easier to do the first thing. One reason why we are having trouble making progress on Climate Change is that it looks different in different parts of the country. Here, it could be floods. In other parts of the country, think of the wildfires ravaging parts of california, think of the droughts in the southwest, it could be rising sea levels in have made aat county in louisiana uninhabitable, that we moved everybody out. Changea plan on climate and i would love to go into it, but it would be a little bit dollar if i went through all of it, so i will try to hit a couple of things. When disaster strikes, whether a , who or hurricane or fire suffers the most . The poor. We know that is the case. People who dont have shelter or a car to drive away in. In we know that the poor america are heavily people of color. Plan is that every american gets 1000 a month starting at age 18 until the day you die. This allowed families to protect themselves more straightforwardly, because if there is a flood, can we turn to the government for every household in the community . Or if every household had 12,000 or 24,000 more a year, they would be able to protect themselves. Go,latter is the way to there is more trickle up than topdown. Now, even those in iowa who experienced flood and other disasters, some of them, many of them are living paychecktopaycheck. 70 of americans live paychecktopaycheck. Unexpected,fford an 500 bill. I cant worry about a problem that is five years, 10 years down the line. So Financial Insecurity has made it harder for us to make progress with Climate Change. And if you say we need to fight Climate Change, Many Americans here, what is it going to cost . Is it going to be inconvenient for me . Is it going to cost jobs . That is what Many Americans here, and that is what we have to alleviate. Hear, andny americans that is what we have to alleviate. This is going to create many, many new jobs. And we are just not mentioning the true cost of many activities. If you factor in the cost of Climate Change, how much this Climate Change cost, do you think . Trillions. Mr. Yang multiple trillions of dollars as well as thousands of american lives, maybe tens of thousands over time. So it is very expensive to do nothing. Manufacturer and do you make things that even contribute marginally to Climate Change, right now that cost is being borne by all of us, not the individual manufacturer. Build the cost of Climate Change into your for those who are progrowth and try to create jobs and moving our country forward in terms of our options with energy and renewable resources. Debatey of you saw the in detroit three days ago . When i talkedr about Climate Change . And issue number two is that Climate Change is a hoax and we dont have to worry about it. Of those ads are bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry. And number three, it is worth than you think. We are 20 years the hind on Climate Change, by any scientific measurement. Is only 15 ofes global emissions. Ifn if we weres to some we were to somehow get to zero very quickly, what would happen and terms of the rate of change . It michael down a tiny bit especially when you account for the last four years being the warmest years in recorded history. The Chinese Government is showing up and saying, we have a coal burning power plant for you . And the african governments say yes, please. They are not worried about emissions. They are worried about access to cheap energy for their economic development. So we want to change that. We have to be there at the table and say to the african thernments, dont take callburning power plant, take these solar panels and we will subsidize it to a degree. [applause] we subsidize exports all the time, but we are not at that table with african governments. That is where we need to go. We get our own 15 under control and then we export Renewable Technology as cheaply as possible. Andrew, thank you for that answer to my question. I think the students have the questions. I will hand the microphone off to tosha. I will introduce our next questioner. Im a junior at Kennedy High School. Im wondering if you could speak to how your Climate Change policy compares to other candidates. Mr. Yang thank you. My Climate Change policies are different in three ways. Number one, i dont pretend my government is going to get it i put Economic Resources in the hands of families so you can make your homes more resilient and protect yourselves. Number two, im much more aggressive in terms of International Source of emissions. A lot of plants talk about getting ourselves under control, and this is a common american take on things, that we are the center of the world. We feel like we are one of the 15 is amitters, but lot less than 100 , so im much more aggressive in trying to bring the world in the same direction. Number three, i account for the fact that we are already experiencing this and our communities and need to spend hundreds of manes of dollars protecting our communities right now, not leaving communities on their own. This takes a different form. Ive been to New Hampshire a lot because of running because butrunning for president , in New Hampshire that water got too warm and all the shrimp died. So there are all these costs different communities are incurring, right now, and none of this is speculative. Costs are already hitting our communities in myriad ways. We need to put federal resources to work to protect our communities. [applause] im a sophomore. Wondering, more specifically, if you are in favor of a cap end trade or flat carbon tax to combat Climate Change . Mr. Yang thats a great question. When i was talking about how you have this negative externality of emissions that is not priced into the cost of doing business, that is what we are talking about. We need to put a price on Carbon Emissions and have that money moving us in the right direction. Have itcap and trade, helpte over time to companies have incentives to clean up their operations. Republicans dont like this because it is a marketbased mechanism for reducing emissions. A carbonbased attacks would do it. [applause] im a junior, and i would like to ask, as president , how would you ensure any new measures you take to combat Climate Change are not simply reversed by the next president . This is very ambitious, but im the only candidate that has proposed a constitutional amendment. [applause] we are going to be here and the earth is going to unfortunately continue to undergo change. We have left you an awful mess, and i apologize on behalf of adults everywhere. Climate change is the most egregious example, but there are many other examples in the world that we have left you. You deserve better. Is that it isg the blending of young people, but it is not your fault. You just got here. [laughter] one thing i propose that is controversial, we should lower the voting age to 16. [applause] 16yearold can pay taxes, so they should have some take some say in where it goes. Studies show the earlier you vote the first time, the more likely you are to become a voter for life. It would turn every high school into a hotbed of political activity, because all of a sudden come all the juniors and seniors could vote. There is also a moral argument that they are going to be here longer than we are, so should so they should probably have a say in what the heck is happening. A counterargument is that 16yearolds dont know enough to be able to vote, they are not mature enough, not informed enough. Inont buy that argument, large part because many of you are very, very informed. But also, it is not like we are giving voters a pop quiz when they show up at the polls right now. We have a lot of lowinformation voters out there. [applause] theargument for lowering voting age to 16 would go a long way to addressing your concerns about government [applause] about about government. [applause] what about conversations with people who say Climate Changes in real . [indiscernible] that is a great question. This is a sign of where we have gone as a country. Measurements of trump, the media, even doctors, they are a lot multidecade lows. What we have to try and reverse together as a country. When you look at trump, it is hard to get a fact. It is true in relationships, and society, in institutions. Related to this mindset of scarcity that has now dominated our country. When i speak of scarcity, there go around, ifto you get it, you win, i lose, and studies have shown that if you cant pay your bills, it has the functional impact of decreasing your iq by 13 points. If you have a sneaking feeling that Many Americans are getting less reasonable, less rational, less oriented toward the future, we almost certainly are becoming all of those things, because that is what you pervasivect in Financial Security introduced into a society. If people cant pay their bills systemically, theyre likely to become less rational. So it comes from a mindset of scarcity, even partially. Opposite of a mindset of scarcity question a mindset of abundance mindset of scarcity . A mindset of abundance. May not seem familiar in america today, but it needs to become more familiar to us all. We are the richest nation in the world. It doesnt feel like it, because we are not seeing the gains. That is what we have to change. We have to make it feel like we are all owners and participates in the richest country in the history of the world, and get the scarcity off our throats. And present facts about Climate Change instead of dismissing it as some kind of conspiracy theory. You actually say, let me look at that, i never thought about that, let me look at these facts. When people have this sort of economic support, their optimism has gone up, their trust in others has gone up, the kids become more conscientious, there are many incredible effects did effects to getting this economic boot of scarcity off our throats. [applause] i have a question from nick. You have awebsite, policy related to flood prevention and moving people to higher ground. [indiscernible] are in a crisis situation where you have to consider every alternative. Say, if we put up levees and invest in various supports, and we can prevent floods, then we should do that. And a few do that you say, some of these areas are very pled very flood prone and we should invest in resources to potentially have folks feel like they want to develop property new areas, we should do that too. Ed is just that right now we are not doing any of those things adequately. Right now our infrastructure is falling apart. The engineers of america evaluated our infrastructure, and they gave us a d. We are losing the investments of decades past. Deficit wasucture measured at Something Like i think 4 trillion. This is something i cant believe donald trump didnt get right. I cant believe he didnt build roads and bridges, just to stick his name on them. [laughter] [applause] we need to invest in levees and infrastructure to prevent floods, and face the harsh reality that some development should be moving to areas that are not as flood prone. [applause] another question about Climate Change. [indiscernible] [laughter] [applause] in terms of American Foreign policy, you think we should intervene to help communities in crisis, like syria . President , elected how would your administration implement solutions to help these communities . [indiscernible] [applause] mr. Yang can you tell me about your background . Aboutame to the country five years ago. We need to rebuild our partnerships and alliances. Donald trump has been an erratic andunpredictable leader, our allies dont think of us as positive. At the same time weve been in a constant state of Armed Conflict for 18 years, since 2001, that is not the will of the people and that is not in the constitution. What is the constitution say about the ability of senators to declare war . It is an act of congress. What happened when into thousand one congress signed this up using this resolution military force in telling the president he can do whatever he wants . You need Congressional Authority to send troops into a foreign theater, and i think syria would qualify. To have a clear, defined and say we will not be there for 18 years, set up a timeline, and made it. And we need to have Partners Join sna mission. If these things are in place, military intervention could be the right thing in order to promote American Values abroad. In a now we arent position to say you should curb yours human rights abuses in syria or china or other parts of the world. That is the challenge for the new president , to rebuild a new world order to make other countries understand there will be consequences if you do things to abuse human rights among people within your borders, and i think we can show countries the following our example is a better way to go toward progress. [applause] i want to ask a followup. If you look at the roots of the ,onflict in syria [indiscernible] havehing i think people trouble envisioning is the theer of climate refugees world may be facing in coming decades. How do you feel like you can approach helping countries right now, the border issue, what is happening in Central America . There are a lot of climaterelated refugees there. I would like you to talk about that. Mr. Yang the Migrant Movement around the world is sparked by Climate Change. If you cant feed your family, what do you do . You pick up and go. That has spurred some of what we have seen in europe, migrants in europe, and some european aggravated the population. Threatlook at the grave of the 21st century to our national security, Climate Change, Artificial Intelligence, thee nuclear material, and proliferation of military, and Climate Change now is kicking off a cascade of events that are shifting borders and challenging the integrity of many countries around the world. We have been very much not on the direct receiving end of that yet because of where we are situated in the world. Other countries have borne the brunt of it. So we have not borne the brunt like many towns and europe have. Have 650 billion right now spent on the military Industrial Complex and we need to focus on threats from the 20th century to the 21st century, that is where we need to shift our priorities. Visit mean you have to choose between climate refugees and hardening your infrastructure against russian hacking . No, you do not. Change to me is the biggest global threat. [applause] [indiscernible] you propose to raise dollars to promote inclusion in our society . [applause] [indiscernible] we are firsttime parents and you are not sure if what is going on with your son is normal. But henot feel normal, is to, maybe that is had twoyearolds behave, he is three, maybe that is how threeyearolds act, and then we found out he was off to stick he was autistic. I am a huge believer that special needs is the new normal. Many communities dont have resources to properly support families that might have special needs children, who become special needs adults. This is an