Presidential candidate Gov. Jay Inslee tours California wildfire damage
AGOURA HILLS, Calif. (FOX 11) - One issue is animating the presidential campaign of Jay Inslee more than every other -- climate change.
"I'm running for President because I believe we need to make defeating climate change the number one priority for the United States," Inslee said.
The Washington governor made his first Southern California campaign stop at the Seminole Springs mobile home park in Agoura, California. More than 100 homes burned there during the Woolsey Fire.
"The thing that's troubling is I've seen this same movie time after time after time in the Western United States, across the Western United States," Inslee said.
"We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change and we're the last generation that can do something about it," he told FOX 11's Elex Michaelson. Michaelson pressed him on the fact that historically, most voters haven't prioritized climate change as a voting issue?
"Americans are seeing the face of climate change with their very own eyes, they know we're the first generation to feel the sting of climate change and the last one who can do something about it," said Inslee.
"Climate change isn't just about the economy, it is the economy. We're spending billions and billions across the United States on climate change," Inslee said.
Inslee blames President Trump for what he says is inaction on the issue.
"I draw a clear line of responsibility between the federal government's job to protect us and these folks who don't have homes to live in," said Inslee.
In November 2018, President Trump visited Woolsey Fire damage in Malibu.
At the time, Michaelson asked the President if climate change could be responsible for intensifying the fires? The President wasn't definitive. Inslee mocked the President's suggestion that the state needed to do a better job with raking.
"Trying to stop these fires just by raking the leaves is like trying to turn back the rising tides with a spoon!" Inslee said.
The Governor said the only way to pass meaningful climate legislation is to get rid of the filibuster rule in the Senate. That rule requires 60 votes to pass most major legislation instead of a simple majority.
"I am the one candidate running for President who has said this. This is an antebellum, antiquated vestige that is not democratic and stands in our way and would stop cold any meaningful progress on climate change," Inslee said.
Michaelson asked him if a Republican Senate could make things worse when it comes to climate change if there was no filibuster to reign them in?
"I believe in a democracy where people get to vote. If they vote for Democratic policies, they get Democratic policies," Inslee said.
Inslee is way behind better known presidential candidates in this race, according to most major polls. But recently, Inslee has pointed out that Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter both started off their presidential campaigns as largely unknown governors. They both ended up winning the presidency.