for you unsophisticated folks to discuss.
Steyer: Only 'super-sophisticated' people understand climate change, and we need to work on the other 99.5 percent of Americans
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/08/steyer_only_super-sophisticate.html#incart_m-rpt-2Print
Jim Stinson | jstinson@al.com By Jim Stinson | jstinson@al.com
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on August 18, 2014 at 1:04 PM, updated August 18, 2014 at 1:08 PM
Billionaire Tom Steyer, the top U.S. political donor this cycle
In 2012, it was all about the 1 percent and how much they had. It was a Democratic talking point that kept the Republicans on the defensive.
In 2014, however, the issue could be the "0.5 percent" and how much they know, and how little the other people know, according to the Democrats' top donor.
Environmental activists warning of the dangers of man-made climate change are doing well with the "super-sophisticated" people who think about politics a lot, said billionaire activist Tom Steyer, the top U.S. political donor so far this election cycle.
Steyer made his remarks last week at a conference held by the American Renewable Energy Institute in Aspen, Colo. He added that the rest of America has some homework to do.
"And the question in the United States of America is how are we doing with everybody else, which is the 99.5 percent of the people whose lives are very busy and complicated and pressing and they don't have a lot of time to think about the things that don't immediately impact themselves and their family," Steyer told the conference.
The remarks drew charges of elitism from Steyer's critics, including the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
"Tom Steyer has spent millions bankrolling candidates and organizations whose efforts are leaving hard-working Americans without work, without economic security and without hope for the future. And, today, he demonstrated once again how totally out-of-touch he is with the priorities of the 'broad audience' of Americans he so offensively characterized in Aspen today," said Laura Sheehan, senior vice president for communications for the coalition. "What Mr. Steyer fails to understand is that the American people are, in fact, thinking about what immediately impacts their lives and families because 'super-sophisticated people' like himself and President Obama are not."
Steyer has promised to fund candidates who agree that climate change is a pressing issue, and who oppose coal and the expansion of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. So far, 100 percent of his $20.5 million in donations have gone to Democrats.
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